Ordovician Gastropod and Cephalopod Association - Wisconsin

This is an example of an association of the gastropod, Clathrospira subconica and a Beloitoceras cephalopod. This fossil is part of an old collection from the Grand Detour Formation in Beloit, Wisconsin. It has been exposed from the rock it was found in.

Gastropods, or snails, have been around since the Late Cambrian period. The class Gastropoda contains a vast total of named species, second only to the insects in overall number. There are 611 known families of gastropods, of which 202 families are extinct and appear only in the fossil record.