Snails and Slugs: Phylum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda

The Class Gastropoda (in Phylum Mollusca) includes the groups pertaining to snails and slugs. The majority of gastropods have a single, usually spirally, coiled shell into which the body can be withdrawn. The shell of these creatures is often what is recovered in a fossil dig. Gastropods are by far the largest class of molluscs, comprising over 80% of all molluscs.

The presence of gastropods, at the Pollack site, provides evidence to validate the researchers beliefs that, years ago, the environment was of shallow-water, near-shore locality.

Below are a few notable taxa recovered from the Pollack Farm site.

• Gastrapoda:
• Turritella cumberlandia
• Diastoma insulaemaris
• Epitonium charlestonensis
• Urosalpinx cumberlandianus
• Tritonopsis ecclesiastica
• Nassarius sopora
• Oliva simonsoni
• Inodrillia whitfieldi

Click the image or the link below to view the gastropod collection!