Larval Bivalve Shell Morphometry: A New Paleoclimatic Tool?

Abstract
The shells of the pelagic larvae of bivalve mollusks may be useful as paleoclimatic indicators. An inverse relationship between temperature and maximum size of larval shells within a particular population is reported for a number of Recent species. Changes in the dimensions of the prodissoconch-dissoconch boundary on juvenile specimens may reflect changes in the ambient temperature of marine environments.