The Seashells of an Iconic Public Artwork: Diversity and Provenance of the Mollusks of the Watts Towers

B. Pernet, E. Silverman, P. Scott
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引用次数: 3

Abstract

The Watts Towers (WT), an iconic Los Angeles artwork created by Sabato Rodia in 1921–1954, is covered with mosaics whose elements include thousands of mollusk shells. Little is known about the diversity or sources of these shells. Here, we document the diversity of mollusk shells present in the WT and use data on their characteristics to make inferences about their provenance. We identified shells of 34 species, 24 of them bivalves (clams and their relatives) and 10 gastropods (snails). Almost all (29/34) of these species are native to southern California shorelines, especially those of bays and estuaries. Rodia could have accessed these sites on foot, by automobile, or by using the Red Car trolley system. Some of the bivalve shells bear drill holes made by naticid gastropods, suggesting that they were collected post-mortem, presumably after they had washed up on beaches. These observations are consistent with the sparse documentary evidence on the origin of the shells of the WT. This detailed information on the diversity of the seashells of the WT should be of utility to conservators, and of interest to scholars of and visitors to the WT.
标志性公共艺术品的贝壳:瓦茨塔软体动物的多样性和来源
瓦茨塔(WT)是由Sabato Rodia在1921-1954年创作的洛杉矶标志性艺术品,上面覆盖着马赛克,其中包括成千上万的软体动物贝壳。人们对这些贝壳的多样性和来源知之甚少。在这里,我们记录了WT中存在的软体动物壳的多样性,并使用它们的特征数据来推断它们的来源。共鉴定出34种贝壳,其中双壳类(蛤及其近缘类)24种,腹足类(蜗牛)10种。几乎所有这些物种(29/34)都是南加州海岸线的原生物种,尤其是海湾和河口。罗迪亚可以步行、开车或使用红色电车系统进入这些地点。一些双壳类动物的壳上有酸性腹足类动物的钻孔,这表明它们是在死后收集的,可能是在它们被冲到海滩之后。这些观察结果与关于野生动物贝壳起源的文献证据是一致的。这些关于野生动物贝壳多样性的详细信息应该对保护人员有用,并且对野生动物学者和游客感兴趣。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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