Evidence of predation on Gryphaea (Bilobissa) lituola Lamarck, 1819 from the Oxford Clay Formation of South Cave Station Quarry, Yorkshire

Four examples of the Callovian bivalve Gryphaea (Bilobissa) lituola Lamarck, 1819 from the Oxford Clay Formation (Stewartby Member) of South Cave Station Quarry, Yorkshire display puncture wounds and indentations produced by an unknown predator. The specimens, which came from beds of the Athleta Zone, are described and figured. Three groups of durophagous (shell-crushing) predators which possessed the claws or teeth required to inflict such wounds (crustaceans, fish and marine reptiles) are considered. Other possible causes of the damage, such as taphonomic processes and boring by predatory organisms, are examined and rejected. It is suggested, rather tentatively, that the wounds were produced by the actions of the marine crocodilian Steneosaurus durobrivensis.