
Glowing Jewel Boxes
Ultraviolet (UV) light ("black light") reveals residual color patterns in fossil mollusk shells that would otherwise go undetected. UV light can also excite certain shell layers in different ways, as shown in this image of the inside of the two valves of a fossil Caribbean Spiny Jewel Box (Arcinella arcinella). (Photos of the valves under natural light are given for comparison.) While most of the internal surface of the valves glow a bright purple color, both adductor muscle scars and the pallia