MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A life-size replica of an extinct sea animal is being repaired at the Shell Museum in the Dias Museum Complex, Mossel Bay.
The papier mâché model of a cameroceras specimen was damaged during the renovations which took place at the museum last year.
Molluscs
The cameroceras - not a single species, but a group of species - was in the same group of molluscs that includes octopuses, squids and cuttlefish. The only portion of the animal to fossilise was the shell.
The cameroceras group had narrow, cone-like shells. The shell was circular or slightly wider than it was tall.
Sizes
Cameroceras came in a variety of sizes, from 70cm to metres long.
Estelle McIlrath, a Mossel Bay art teacher, and Karen Claxton, one of her students, have been repairing the cameroceras.
It was created in 2016 as part of a special programme at the museum during Marine Month - October.
Volunteered
McIlrath volunteered to create the cameroceras and trained and guided a team of young convicts from the Mossel Bay Youth Centre (Department of Correctional Services) to build the cameroceras.
It is believed cameroceras lived 470 million years ago. The tentacles, eyes, beak and siphon - the organ that cephalopods use to jet around underwater - stuck out of the wider side of the cameroceras shell. Sources: Steemit.com, Wikipepedia
An artist's impression of the cameroceras. Photo: Reddit
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