Tooth or Tusk Shells
Common Name: Tooth or Tusk Shells
Scientific Name: Scaphopoda
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Scaphopoda
Specimen #:59
Circumstance: Observed in lab
Specimen Condition: Specimen was dead
Location: Alfred bio lab
Typical Habitat: Tusk shells live in seafloor sediment where they feed on detritus, foraminiferans and microscopic animals
Invasive? not invasive
Natural area of growth: Tusk shells live in seafloor sediment where they feed on detritus, foraminiferans and microscopic animals
Relationship with humans: The shells of Dentalium hexagonum, a scaphopod mollusc, were strung on thread and used by the natives of the Pacific Northwest as shell money. Dentalium shells were also used to make belts and headdresses by the Natufian culture of the Middle East, and are a possible indicator of early social stratification. Shells of the species Dentalium pretiosum were used as money.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusk_shell
Scientific Name: Scaphopoda
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Scaphopoda
Specimen #:59
Circumstance: Observed in lab
Specimen Condition: Specimen was dead
Location: Alfred bio lab
Typical Habitat: Tusk shells live in seafloor sediment where they feed on detritus, foraminiferans and microscopic animals
Invasive? not invasive
Natural area of growth: Tusk shells live in seafloor sediment where they feed on detritus, foraminiferans and microscopic animals
Relationship with humans: The shells of Dentalium hexagonum, a scaphopod mollusc, were strung on thread and used by the natives of the Pacific Northwest as shell money. Dentalium shells were also used to make belts and headdresses by the Natufian culture of the Middle East, and are a possible indicator of early social stratification. Shells of the species Dentalium pretiosum were used as money.
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tusk_shell