Invertebrate Animals (Part 2)
Bryozoans
Bryozoans are aquatic animals called “moss animals.” Bryozoans have existed since the Ordovician. This specimen is called Archimedes, and is Mississippian in age.
Archimedes, a bryozoan (Photograph by Parvinder Sethi)
Brachiopods
Brachiopods are the single most abundant fossil group in Paleozoic rocks. Although these creatures resemble clams, they belong to a completely different phylum.
Brachiopods (Photographs by Parvinder Sethi)
Brachiopods preserved as molds and casts
(Photographs by Parvinder Sethi)
Mollusks
Mollusks are extremely abundant in both modern and ancient environments. They have existed since the Cambrian. Three major groups of mollusks are shown below: cephalopods (top left), pelecypods (clams) (top right), and gastropods (snails) (bottom).
Left: Cephalopod; right:pelecypods (Photographs by Parvinder Sethi)
Gastropod (Photograph by Parvinder Sethi)