Welcome to another bonus episode of Calm History, an extra treat for my SOC Plus members.

The History of Pearls, Part 1.

Around 500 million years ago, a new type of shellfish began to appear on the earth.

It had a hard shell that was somewhat similar to Welk, Nautilus, conk, and snail shells.

But this new shellfish had an important difference from these other shellfish.

Oh wait, you didn't know that all snails are shellfish?

Yeah, me neither. I had to look it up.

Anyway, in contrast to concks, whelks, and snails,

this new shellfish didn't have a single spiral-shaped shell.

Instead, it had two flattish or curved shells,

connected at a hinge point.

The shellfish community held a public contest to name this new shellfish.

After weeks of public voting, the winning submission name was,

Shelly McShellface.

Yeah, after this debacle, the shellfish community learned to never use public voting to choose a name.

Unfortunately, the human community of today has still not learned this lesson.

Anyway, the leaders of the shellfish tossed out the ridiculous voting results and came

up with a more sensible name.

They called this new group of shellfish, bivalve mollusks.

Bivalve means two valves or two doors, and mullusk means soft or soft body.

So, bivalve mollusks are shellfish that have soft bodies between two shells.

Yeah, like a sandwich with a hinge.

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