MATHEMATICAL DETERMINATION OF COILED SHELL VOLUMES AND SURFACE-AREAS

Mathematical models of shells enable researchers to estimate the maxim um possible sizes of organisms that once occupied fossil shells. In th is study, a whorl-by-whorl method of determining coiled shell volumes and surface areas is introduced. The whorl-by-whorl analysis yielded r esults that were more accurate than those obtained from a model that a ssumes isometric growth, when both were used to calculate volumes of g astropod shells. The whorl-by-whorl method is more laborious, but it i s better suited for the analysis of shells exhibiting allometric varia tion than are methods that use models of isometric growth.