S5_Dataset: Predator and Prey Body Size Measurements for Marine Invertebrates

A dataset recording Equivalent Spherical Diameter (ESD) measurements for marine invertebrate predators and their seston prey. The data includes values for Cambrian luolishaniid lobopodians, calculated from fossil dimensions, and for living taxa collected from the literature. It was created by Jared Richards and last updated in April 2026 for use in calculating Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regressions and predator-prey size ratios.

Use Cases

• Calculate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression of predator and prey body size based on the Predator_ESD and Prey_ESD columns.
• Determine predator-prey body size ratios for different taxonomic groups based on the 'Clade' and 'Taxa' columns.
• Compare body-size scaling between extinct Cambrian lobopodians and modern marine invertebrates based on the log-transformed ESD columns.
• Model suspension-feeding ecology in fossil organisms based on calculated minimum prey size values.

Strengths

• Includes both linear and log10-scale measurements (Predator_ESD, Prey_ESD, Predator_ESD_L, Prey_ESD_L) for analysis.
• Combines calculated data for fossil taxa with literature-derived data for living taxa.
• Dataset is licensed under CC BY 4.0, facilitating open reuse.

Limitations

• Row count and file format are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal and taxonomic bias inherent to the literature sources and fossil record.

Provenance

Source

Jared Richards via figshare.

Collection Method

Predator ESD for luolishaniids was calculated from fossil length and width; data for living taxa was collected from the literature.

Time Range

Includes data from the Cambrian period and modern taxa.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-13 09:19:39.

Geography

Marine environments; specific geography is not stated.