Abstract
In 1897, Arthur Willey remarked that "there is one thing the Nautilus cannot do, namely, turn upside down" (Willey, 1897a, p. 146). The high degree of hydrostatic stability noted by Willey is a direct consequence of the geometry of the Nautilus shell, and it raises two questions: (1) Which physical parameters contribute to this stability? (2) How do these factors vary among different species of Nautilus? In paleontology, there are two approaches to the study of functional morphology: the empirical approach and the paradigmatic approach. The empirical approach entails observation of organisms actually performing a function and correlation of success of that function with specific morphological features.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Shapiro, E.A., Saunders, W.B. (2010). Nautilus Shell Hydrostatics. In: Saunders, W.B., Landman, N.H. (eds) Nautilus. Topics in Geobiology, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3299-7_33
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3299-7_33
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-3298-0
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-3299-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)