Seashells: the plainness and beauty of their mathematical description

Examples: Gastropods

Whelks (pear shape, [2, p. 127])

[alpha=86, beta=11, phi=-22, mu=0, Omega=24, A=95, a=20, b=35, L=0]

(Click with the mouse over the picture to rotate it)

Most shells of these cold-water species have a very capacious body whorl and a short, broad, siphonal canal. Whelk animals scavenge dead fish and other offal.
Habitat: deep water, widely distributed in the northern hemisphere.

[2] S. Peter Dance, Shells, Dorling Kindersley, 2002.

Last update: 08 Apr 23:40:25 2006

Next | Previous | Index of examples | Back to Index