What can shells tells us about marine paleoclimate? Shells and molluscs store a wealth of paleoclimate information. Molluscs build their shells with calcium carbonate from the sea water. Their shells record the sea water chemistry, which lets us decipher the changes that occurred in their environment.

Paleoclimate scientist Devapriya Chattopadhyay studies mollusc fossils which help reconstruct the marine paleoenvironment. Her findings revealed that even periods of slight warming affected mollusc diversity in an area considered to be less affected by changes in the climate. In the context of present-day climate change, this paleoclimate research is considered to be very useful in bridging some knowledge gaps.

In this episode of Imprints, Chattopadhyay talks about her fossil-hunting adventures, interesting discoveries and the people she encounters on the field. She also speaks about how infrastructure development could erase records of natural history and the challenge that India faces in setting up a museum for natural history.

Guest: Devapriya Chattopadhyay, Associate Professor, Earth and Climate Science, Paleobiology and Marine Ecology, Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER)

Host and producer: Sahana Ghosh, Contributing Editor, Mongabay-India

Co-producer and cover designer: Kartik Chandramouli

Audio editor: Tejas Dayanand Sagar

Copy editors: Sapna Verma and Priyanka Shankar

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Links:

Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity

Predation to climate change: what does a fossil shell tell us?

Response of the Oligo-Miocene Bivalve Fauna of the Kutch Basin (Western India) to Regional Tectonic Events

The Distribution Pattern of Marine Bivalve Death Assemblage From the Western Margin of Bay of Bengal and Its Oceanographic Determinants