Conus spuroides fossil cone snail shells (Caloosahatchee Formation, Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene; gravel pit in southwestern Florida, USA) 2 : 無料・フリー素材/写真
Conus spuroides fossil cone snail shells (Caloosahatchee Formation, Upper Pliocene-Lower Pleistocene; gravel pit in southwestern Florida, USA) 2 / James St. John
| ライセンス | クリエイティブ・コモンズ 表示 2.1 |
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| 説明 | Conus spuroides Olsson & Harbison, 1953 - fossil cone snail shells from the Cenozoic of Florida, USA. (abapertural view; bottom row is ~11.4 cm across)The gastropods (snails & slugs) are a group of molluscs that occupy marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Most gastropods have a calcareous external shell (the snails). Some lack a shell completely, or have reduced internal shells (the slugs & sea slugs & pteropods). Most members of the Gastropoda are marine. Most marine snails are herbivores (algae grazers) or predators/carnivores.The conid gastropods (cone shells) are fascinating marine snails for a couple reasons - they have attractively-shaped, colorful shells and they are killers. The conids are predatory, as are many other marine snails, but they take down their prey in an unusual fashion. The radula of most snails is a mineralized or heavily sclerotized mass of small teeth that scrapes across a substrate during feeding. Conid snails have a toxoglossate radula - one that has been evolutionarily modified into tiny, unattached, toxin-bearing, harpoon-like darts (see photo - science.naturkundemuseum-bw.de/files/images/niederhofer_2...) that can be fired at prey. Each dart is an individual tooth. The nickname "killer snails" is well deserved (even people have been killed). Some species have incredibly powerful toxins, while in other species the toxin has little effect on humans.The fossil cone snails shown above are from richly fossiliferous beds in the Cenozoic of Florida. Many quarries and pits in such beds produce fossil shell "gravel" for use in non-paved roadways, sidewalks, and decorative landscaping.Note the presence of fossil color spots in some of these shells. Bleached-away color spots in fossil snail shells may show up under ultraviolet black light (UV).Classification: Animalia, Mollusca, Gastropoda, Neogastropoda, Conoidea, ConidaeStratigraphy: supposedly derived from the Caloosahatchee Formation, Upper Pliocene to Lower PleistoceneLocality: apparently derived from a commercial quarry pit in southwestern Florida, USA--------------More info. at:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conus |
| 撮影日 | 2016-12-22 01:35:46 |
| 撮影者 | James St. John |
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