Seashells: An Inside Look
Many people love collecting seashells at the beach and comparing their shape, color, and size. What makes one seashell different from another? What can we learn from these shells?
At the Cook Museum, we help people learn about mollusks with an extensive shell collection of 800+ specimens.
Mollusks are soft-bodied invertebrate animals that secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard-shell cover. Of the seven classes of mollusks, the two most recognizable are bivalves and gastropods. Bivalves have two shells that close together, like with clams and oysters. A gastropod, such as a cowry or a whelk, will have a spherical shell. How a spiral shell forms helps to identify the mollusk.
The next time you are at the beach, look closely at the shells! Each has a story to tell.
Part of the 2024 Vol. 3 Doodle Bug Activity Guide; Sponsored by
