OK, it was dinosaurs, but still. Through some funny circumstances I ended up at the American Museum of Natural History twice this weekend. All of these photos came from a single diorama about the Cretaceous ocean. It’s like mollusk central!
This one is just about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.
This ammonite’s biiiiig.
What I love about this phalanx of squids is that the front two are three dimensional and the one in the back is not. Hats off to the diorama painter.
Such cool variety, all hanging out by that big ammonite’s tentacles.
AMNH is really a great place to go if you want some great fake mollusk sightings (plenty of real shells, though!). I’m clambering to see some real live mollusks, but I’m not sure when my next chance for that will be.
All of the above faux mollusks were in just one of the many dioramas in the Hall of Ocean Life. Perhaps the most well known diorama in the hall is the Squid and the Whale. I couldn’t get a photo of it because it’s shrouded in darkness–I love that about it, it’s actually very easy to miss because of just how dark it is– and I was armed with only my flashless iPhone, but thankfully flickr saved the day, as usual.
(photo: Cpt Obvious)
The Shell and Mantle 
I like that the squid on the left is blurry so it looks like it’s actually flapping its fins!
Awesome pictures, thanks for sharing.