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How do seashells turn in to fossils? |
Seashells are actually like the bones for many sea creatures! Often, they don’t have bones like we do, so they grow very hard shells to protect them and help them keep their shape. When the animals die, their muscles and other soft parts decay or break apart and become food for other animals in the ocean. Their hard shells remain. Some wash up on the beach, while others fall to the bottom of the ocean and get buried under layers of dirt and rock. The ones that get buried just might become fossils some day!
Once they’re under the dirt, they’re safe from the tides and other changes in the water, which might break them into pieces and lose their shape. Even though they’re very hard and well protected, they were still once part of living things. The chemicals that make them up start to break down after awhile, and they leave empty spaces under the rocks and dirt. The empty spaces are in the shape of the shell.
Minerals in the seawater fill those spaces. They are much stronger and become even harder than the seashell was. When the minerals replace all of the original shell, a fossil is made, and it can sometimes remain buried for millions of years before being discovered!
Seashells by the Seashore
If you take a trip to the beach, there’s a good chance you’ll find lots of different shells. They come in many different shapes, colors and sizes. If you find some, try to imagine what animals they might have come from. The most common shells will come from animals like clams and scallops. Make sure you have an adult with you to watch you if you decide to look for shells. Usually low tide is the best time to find them.
You can collect seashells and even use them in projects, like gluing them around a frame to make a pretty special gift for someone.
Collecting shells is a popular hobby, but it’s not just for people. Some animals do too! A special crab called the “hermit crab” finds empty shells and uses them as its home! It’s similar to how a snail lives inside its shell, but the hermit crab doesn’t grow its own. It searches for a seashell to live in and then carries the shell around until it gets too big for it. Then the hermit crab has to find a new shell to call home!