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27: Zoologist Ash Campbell, Kleptoparasitism, and Australia's Best Animal

Let's Learn Everything!

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Kleptoparasitism in Fossil Animals

Fossils of brachyopods from the Cambrian period have tube-like formations attached to their shells. Scientists wanted to figure out if these tube animals were exhibiting kleptoparasitism or if this was some other dynamic. So they found that brachyopod with tubes attached were significantly smaller than uninfected counterparts. That indicates that these tube animalswere incurring an energetic cost on their host by stealing food.

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