The Paleontology of North America

Gastropods from North America

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Gastropoda
Gastropoda
© 2000 West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey

Bembexia
Bembexia
© 2005 Geb Bennett, Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum

Neptunea
Neptunea
© 2003 Roland Gangloff, University of Alaska Museum

What are Gastropods? Gastropods, meaning “stomach-footed,” differ from all other molluscs by a developmental process called torsion, in which all the internal organs and nervous system are twisted at least 90° from their original positions. Familiar gastropods include limpets and snails and slugs, which lack a shell entirely. Less familiar gastropods include the sea slugs (nudibranchs), which do not have shells, and the sea butterflies (pteropods) and sea hares (heteropods), which may or may not have shells. Gastropods inhabit a wide range of marine, freshwater, and terrestrial environments. Not all gastropods have a great fossil record, but the record of the whole group goes back to the Cambrian.

First known fossil occurrence: Cambrian.

Last known fossil occurrence: Quaternary. This group has living relatives.

Fossils through time:
Choose a time period to see what life was like:

Quaternary
Tertiary
Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic
Permian
Carboniferous
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
Precambrian