Name ________________________________________ Date ________________________ Class ___________________
Shell Identification Lab
Background Information: The mollusk shell is a calcium carbonate structure which encloses, supports and protects the
soft parts of an animal in the Phylum Mollusca. This phylum includes gastropods (slugs and snails), bivalves (clams,
oysters, mussels, scallops), cephalopods (squid , octopus, cuttlefish, nautilus), and several other classes.
Shelled mollusks can be found in many different environments: freshwater, marine, and terrestrial. The ancestral
mollusk is thought to have had a shell, but this has subsequently been lost or reduced in some groups, such as the
cephalopods. Malacology, the scientific study of living mollusks, has a branch devoted entirely to the study of shells –
conchology. Within species of mollusks there is a surprising degree of variation in the exact shape, pattern,
ornamentation, and color of the shell.
Purpose: Mollusks are important to paleontologists for several reasons. First, they have tremendous morphological
diversity (only Phylum Arthropoda has more described species). Second, mollusks usually possess well-calcified
skeletons that have easily recognized features. Third, the phylum has exploited a wide variety of environments,
from terrestrial forests, to freshwater lakes, down to the deepest part of the ocean. Finally, the mollusks have an
excellent fossil record extending back to the earliest Cambrian. The purpose of this lab is to observe and identify
mollusk shells in a way modern-day anthropologists would study shells found around the world.
Instructions: Fill in the following chart using information you collect during your observations of 15 different
mollusk shells.
Mollusk Shell Identification
Shell Name
1.)
2.)
3.)
4.)
5.)
6.)
7.)
8.)
9.)
10.)
Shell Illustration
Mollusk Class
Unique Characteristics
(shape, color, pattern,
etc)
Name ________________________________________ Date ________________________ Class ___________________
Instructions: Using the illustrations as a visual guide, label the following mollusk groups: Cephalopoda, Polyplacophora,
Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Scaphapoda, and Monoplacophora.
Mollusk Shell Identification
Shell Name
Shell Illustration
Mollusk Class
Unique Characteristics
(shape, color, pattern,
etc)
11.)
12.)
13.)
14.)
15.)
Analysis Questions:
1.) Mollusk shells are made up of _________________________________________.
2.) What is an example of a mollusk that does NOT have a shell?
3.) Define conchology.
4.) Explain why shells are so important to Paleontologists.
5.) Using your data table, which class of mollusk do you think is the most numerous with approximately 35,000
species?