|
 BRACHIOPODS are relatively rare animals today and live only in seawater. They were much more abundant in seas of the Silurian Period. Brachiopods have a shell made of two halves. Each half of the brachiopod shell has a slightly different shape (figures 10a - 10d). Brachiopods feed by filtering tiny food particles from seawater. Most of the space inside the brachiopod shell is occupied by a special organ that acts as a water pumping and filtering device. Brachiopods do not move very much. Most are held to the bottom by a stalk (reconstructed in figure 10b). Some Silurian brachiopods lacked a stalk, had a flattened shell form (figure 3b), and rested freely on the seafloor.
|
|
