Gastropods have left behind an extraordinary fossil record that documents a rich evolutionary history. They are distinctive among animals for their high taxonomic, ecological, and environmental diversity.

The majority of gastropods sport a conical or coiled shell (although slugs lost this as part of their evolutionary history). In this guide, we’ll cover a broad range of information regarding gastropods, their fossils, where to search for them, and how to identify them.

In Mesozoic rocks, gastropods become more common in the fossil record, with well-preserved shells. Fossils are found in ancient beds from both freshwater and marine environments. Notable examples include the Purbeck Marble of the Jurassic and the Sussex Marble of the early Cretaceous, both from southern England .

Sep 16, 2021 · Gastropods are the second largest class of animals (after the Insecta)—with 40,000–90,000 living species and at least 13,000 extant and fossil genera (Ponder and Lindberg, 2020)—and are also one of the most evolutionarily successful groups in the variety of ecosystems and habitats that they occupy.

Jan 5, 2023 · Gastropods are snail-like and slug-like invertebrate (lacking a backbone) animals, and are types of mollusks. Snails have hard mineral shells; slugs lack shells. Because fossils mostly represent the hard parts of organisms, snails …

Gastropods evolved early in the Cambrian, but since the Palaeogene they have become the most common molluscs, inhabiting both aquatic and terrestrial environments. We focus here on shelled forms that are normally found as fossils: Hexaplex tripteroides, a caenogastropod from the Palaeogene (Eocene) of southern England. BGS © UKRI.

Sep 11, 2024 · Evolution and Fossil Records. The earliest gastropods, such as those from the genera Chippewaella and Strepsodiscus, likely emerged during the Late Cambrian Period (approximately 497 to 485 million years ago). These early forms primarily exhibited a coiled shell, the defining characteristic of gastropods.

Jan 5, 2023 · Some of the common ways gastropod shells are fossilized. Gastropod shells can be replaced by other minerals when buried, or may decompose and the space that is left may be recrystallized. Gastropod shells may decompose after burial, sometimes leaving a cast of the inside or outside of their shell.

Jan 5, 2023 · Usually coiling, the presence or lack of internal chambers, and some knowledge of the kinds of fossils known to have been found in a rock unit are enough to easily distinguish between gastropods and cephalopods.

Fossil specimen of the gastropod Naticonema lineata from the Devonian Hamilton Group near Geneseo, New York (PRI 76749). Specimen is from the collections of the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York. Maximum dimension of specimen is …