fairfolio
Saved Projects

Utilizing Hydrostatics to Describe the Paleoecology of Orthoceras, an Extinct Fossil Nautiloid

ISEF · 2021 Animal Sciences Third Award

Vaserman, Ellie · Staten Island Technical High School

Is this your project?

Overview

Orthoceras is an extinct genus of Nautiloids, characterized by a straight, conical shell. These inhabited seas 450 million years ago, and are related to cephalopods, which are keystone species in decline. These elusive species are hard to study as a result of the depths they inhabit, and paleoecology can thus be an alternative to protect them from extinction. This project intends to determine the extent to which mathematical models, fluid dynamics, and hydrostatics can be used to determine the paleoecology of Orthoceras . It is hypothesized that Orthoceras had a horizontal living orientation, and used water in a system of jet propulsion to move, as a result of similarities between Orthoceras and extant Nautilus . To test the hypothesis, Pyplot was used to create contour plots to generate a hypothetical Orthoceras . A vertically-sliced shell of Nautilus pompilius was measured. Curves were generated for septal thickness, positioning, and chamber size, relative to shell diameter; these were used to plot septa on the hypothetical shell, and then find the sizes of the body, shell, and phragmocone. Center of mass and center of buoyancy equations were created for Orthoceras , and were then used to calculate the stability index. Volumes of water were then added to the apex of the shell, which moved up the center of mass, eventually creating a stability index of 0 when the water volume was 470 cm^3. The increased stability of the shell with water supported the conclusion that Orthocones used siphuncular water in a system of jet propulsion to move.

Working on something like this? See what's been done and what's still open.

Awards (1)

Competition history

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Report a problem

Source: Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google