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PALEONTOLOGICAL MUSEUM and STUDY COLLECTIONS
A. Hugh Adams Central Campus - John H. Payne Hall
SCAPHOPODA - View Galleries |
Ordivician - Recent |
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Scaphopods, marine mollusks, also referred to as tusk shells, have a long, curving, tube-shaped shell tapered at one end and open at both. The anterior (wider) end with the mouth is permanently embedded in sediment. They feed on small organisms using adapted tentacles. The posterior (narrow) end of the shell sticks up into the water for water exchange and waste expulsion. There are no gills, so the mantle tissue which produces the shell also serves to obtain oxygen from the seawater.
Recent species are more abundant than fossil ones and are ususally found on the continental slope or shelf. There are between 750 - 1200 species of scaphopods including extinct species.
Broward College A. Hugh Adams Central Campus |
A. Hugh Adams Central Campus
3501 SW Davie Road
John H. Payne Hall, Building 7
Davie, FL 33314