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Shells
Echoing with the sounds of the sea, an exquisite survey of the science and customs of conchs, clams, coquinas, cowries, and much more. Shells have captivated humans from the dawn of time: the earliest known artwork was made on a shell. As well as containers for food, shells have been used as tools, jewelry, decorations for dwellings, and to bring good luck or to ward off spirits. Many Indigenous peoples have used shells as currency, and in a few places, they still do. This beautifully illustrated book investigates the fascinating scientific and cultural history of shells. It examines everything from pearls—the only gems of animal origin—to how shells’ diverse colors and shapes are formed. And it reveals how shells have inspired artists throughout history, how shells have been used in architecture, and even how shells can be indicators of changing environmental conditions. Also including two essays by shell expert M. G. Harasewych, emeritus curator of gastropods in the Smithsonian’s Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Shells is an authoritative exploration of the deep human connection to these molluscan exoskeletons of sea, lake, land, and stream.
The Book of Shells
The lifesize guide to identifying and classifying shells. Over 100,000 kinds of mollusk have been recorded and some estimates of yet to be discovered species exceed a million. They have colonized nearly every habitat on the planet, ranging from high mountains to the depths of ocean trenches, and from the poles to the tropics. They range in size from that of a grain of sand to a meter in length and many hundreds of kilograms in weight. The Book of Shells curates a lifesize collection of 600 of the most significant examples, presented by one of the world's preeminent scholars. Each shell is reproduced lifesize, and the book is arranged by shell family, and by size within each family, providing...
Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells
An essential reference book for every collector and researcher of American seashells, Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells is a complete sourcebook and up-to-date identification guide, covering an unprecedented nine hundred species of seashells and mollusks that reside in the marine habitats of the Gulf of Mexico. Special features: Illustrated guide to the general features of mollusks Family overviews Descriptions of deep-water, tropical, coral reef, and bank species Information boxes on notable species Assemblage photos of dominant species in primary Texas habitatsChecklist and glossary This reference contains 987 detailed and data-rich color images for even the tiniest shells, a valuable primer on shell collecting as a hobby, and a wealth of entries on the history of use and study, habitats and ecology, shell characteristics, distribution, biology, and identification. Covering species that range from Florida to South America, the Encyclopedia of Texas Seashells will also be a valuable resource for anyone interested in seashells of the Western Atlantic.
The Little Book of Shells
The Little Book of Shells introduces you to 75 exquisite examples from around the world.
Conus of the Southeastern United States and Caribbean
Conus is the largest genus of animals in the sea, occurring throughout the world's tropical and subtropical oceans and contributing significantly to marine biodiversity. The shells of these marine mollusks are prized for their amazing variety and extraordinary beauty. The neurotoxic venoms they produce—injected by a hollow, harpoon-like tooth into prey animals that are then paralyzed and swallowed whole—have a range of pharmaceutical applications, from painkillers to antidepressants. This beautifully illustrated book identifies 53 valid species of the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, a region that supports a diverse but taxonomically challenging group of Conus. Introductory ...
The Little Book of Shells
Dip into the intriguing world of shells with this beautifully illustrated guide to 75 weird and wonderful examples. When we pick up a shell on the beach, we notice its beautiful shape or attractive colours, but how often do we consider what it tells us about the creature that made it, and the evolutionary journey that led to its particular characteristics? This book introduces you to the extraordinary variety of forms into which molluscs mould their shells, and the impressive types of external protection they have developed for a range of habitats. Intricate structures shown here range from the tapering whorls of a triangular nutmeg to the spectacular spines of the Venus Comb Murex, from the...
Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota
This landmark scientific reference for scientists, researchers, and students of marine biology tackles the monumental task of taking a complete biodiversity inventory of the Gulf of Mexico with full biotic and biogeographic information. Presenting a comprehensive summary of knowledge of Gulf biota through 2004, the book includes seventy-seven chapters, which list more than fifteen thousand species in thirty-eight phyla or divisions and were written by 138 authors from seventy-one institutions in fourteen countries.This first volume of Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota, a multivolumed set edited by John W. Tunnell Jr., Darryl L. Felder, and Sylvia A. Earle, provides information on each species' habitat, biology, and geographic range, along with full references and a narrative introduction to the group, which opens each chapter.
Sea-Level Change in the Gulf of Mexico
A must-read for Gulf Coast scientists, naturalists, and residents . . . From Florida to Mexico and along the shores of Cuba, the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico are vulnerable to sea-level rise because of their fragile and low-lying shorelines and adjacent coastal environments. In addition to wetlands, river deltas, beaches, and barrier islands, millions of people who live and work along the Gulf coast are susceptible to the affects of both intense storms in the short term and a gradual rise in sea level over the longer term. While global warming headlines any current discussion of this topic and is certainly a major factor in sea-level change, it is not the only factor. Earthquakes and other c...
Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico: Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfo...
This Is Our Home
The cultural memory of plantations in the Old South has long been clouded by myth. A recent reckoning with the centrality of slavery to the US national story, however, has shifted the meaning of these sites. Plantations are no longer simply seen as places of beauty and grandiose hospitality; their reality as spaces of enslavement, exploitation, and violence is increasingly at the forefront of our scholarly and public narratives. Yet even this reckoning obscures what these sites meant to so many forced to live and labor on them: plantations were Black homes as much as white. Insightfully reading the built environment of plantations, considering artifact fragments found in excavations of slave dwellings, and drawing on legal records and plantation owners' papers, Whitney Nell Stewart illuminates how enslaved people struggled to make home amid innumerable constraints and obstacles imposed by white southerners. By exploring the material remnants of the past, Stewart demonstrates how homemaking was a crucial part of the battle over slavery and freedom, a fight that continues today in consequential confrontations over who has the right to call this nation home.
