Encyclopedia > Hyolithes

  Article Content

Hyolitha

Redirected from Hyolithes

Hyolitha are known only from the Cambrian. Conical shells with a cover (operculum[?]) and two curved supports known as Helens. The shells are calcerous and are usually triangular or elliptical in cross section. Some species have rings or striations. Most are one to four centimeters in length. Some authors treat them as molluscs, but it is generally agreed that there is no very strong argument to do so.

Despite the fact that Hyolithid shells are quite common as fossils, next to nothing is known about their ancestry and internal structures. They were obviously bottom dwellers. There is some evidence that they were carnivores.



All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

 
  Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!
 
 
  
  Featured Article
East Hampton North, New York

... $55,357. Males have a median income of $38,566 versus $29,750 for females. The per capita income for the town is $25,725. 12.2% of the population and 10.3% of families ...

 
 
 
This page was created in 27.9 ms