How the Squid Lost Its Shell

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateEons ↓ More info below ↓ The ancestors of modern, squishy cephalopods like the octopus and the squid all had shells. In ancient times, their shell was their greatest asset but it eventually proved to be their biggest weakness. Special thanks to Franz Anthony for the beautiful cephalopod reconstructions. You can see more of Franz s tremendous work at http://252mya.com And thanks as always to Nobumichi Tamura for allowing us to use his wonderful paleoart: http://spinops.blogspot.com/ Produced for PBS Digital Studios. Want to follow Eons elsewhere on the internet? Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/eonsshow Twitter - https://twitter.com/eonsshow Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/eonsshow/ References: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/taxa/inverts/mollusca/mollusca.php http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.860.9021&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bies.201100001/full http://www.deepseanews.com/2017/10/how-the-squid-lost-its-shell/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269526655_An_endocochleate_experiment_in_the_Silurian_straight-shelled_cephalopod_Sphooceras https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13358-015-0100-3 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/1475-4983.00155/asset/1475-4983.00155.pdf?v=1&t=jedjjjbl&s=df93664ab7ea8768c2832ea135e7dd76626b0ea3 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0007262 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00828.x/epdf https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/11/if-you-liked-the-cambrian-explosion-youll-love-the-ordovician-radiation/ Squid Empire by Danna Staaf: http://www.cephalopodiatrist.com/p/squid-empire.html