It's pretty much an undisputed fact that nautilus are awesome, and the same goes for their siblings, the extinct ammonites. Both are cephalopods with external, chambered shells, but they fall into different subclasses: Nautiloidea and Ammonoidea. How can you tell the difference? As this awesome, easy-to-read page shows, nautilus hit the scene first in the Late Cambrian, and in the Devonian, ammonites evolved as an offshoot of that branch. (The first nautilus had straight shells!)
The quick difference between nautiloids and ammonoids
Cortney Science & Technology + ammonites, evolution, invertebrates, nautilus
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All about Squilla empusa, the American mantis shrimp
Cortney Science & Technology + beaufort, biology, invertebrates, mantis shrimp, squilla empusa
Note: This was written for a school project. It will be featured as a chapter in an Apple iBooks textbook released by Duke University about Beaufort marine invertebrates.
Latin Name: Squilla empusa (Mantis Shrimp)
Taxonomy: Animalia (Kingdom) > Arthropoda (Phylum) > Crustacea (Subphylum) > Malacostraca (Class) > Hoplocarida (Subclass) > Stomatopoda (Order) > Unipeltata (Suborder) > Squilloidea (Superfamily) > Squillidae (Family) > Squilla (Genus)
All about Mnemiopsis leidyi, the sea walnut comb jelly
Cortney Science & Technology + beaufort, comb jellies, invertebrates
Note: This was written for a school project. It will be featured as a chapter in an Apple iBooks textbook released by Duke University about Beaufort marine invertebrates. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Latin Name: Mnemiopsis leidyi (Sea Walnut)
Taxonomy: Animalia (Kingdom) > Ctenophora (Phylum) > Tentaculata (Class) > Cyclocoela (Subclass) > Lobata (Order) > Bolinopsidae (Family) > Mnemiopsis (Genus)