See text.

Cowry, also sometimes spelled cowrie, plural cowries, is the common name A common name is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with a scientific name. A common name is not necessarily a commonly used name, nor is it considered less correct than a scientific name (as "common" might imply) for a group of small to large marine An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (~3.61 X 1014 m2) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas gastropods The Gastropoda or gastropods are a large taxonomic class of mollusks that are more commonly known as snails and slugs. This class of animals includes snails and slugs of all kinds and all sizes: huge numbers of marine snails and sea slugs, as well as freshwater snails and freshwater limpets, and the terrestrial snails and slugs. The class in the family Cypraeidae. The word cowry is also often used to refer to the shells The gastropod shell is a shell which is part of the body of a gastropod or snail, one kind of mollusk. The gastropod shell is an external skeleton or exoskeleton, which serves not only for muscle attachment, but also for protection from predators and from mechanical damage. In land snails the shell is an essential protection against the sun, and of these snails.

Many people find the very rounded, shiny, porcelain Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between 1,200 °C and 1,400 °C (2,552 °F). The toughness, strength, and translucence of porcelain arise mainly from the formation of glass and the mineral mullite within the fired body at these high-like shells An exoskeleton is an external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. Some animals, such as the tortoise, have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton. In popular usage, many of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells" of cowries pleasing to look at and to handle. Indeed the term "porcelain" derives from the old Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 62 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. It is spoken as a first language by many Italian citizens and immigrants abroad, for a total of approximately 70 million native speakers. In addition, it term for the cowrie shell (porcellana) due to their similar translucent appearance.[1] Shells of certain species have historically been used as currency In economics, the term currency can refer to a particular currency, for example Pound Sterling, or to the coins and banknotes of a particular currency, which comprise the physical aspects of a nation's money supply. The other part of a nation's money supply consists of money deposited in banks , ownership of which can be transferred by means of in several parts of the world, as well as being used, in the past and present, very extensively in jewellery Jewellery or jewelry (see American and British English spelling differences) signifies items of personal adornment, such as necklaces, rings, brooches, earrings and bracelets. Jewellery may be made from any material, such as gemstones, precious metals or shells, besides other materials, depending on cultural differences and availability of, and for other decorative and ceremonial purposes.

Some species in the family Ovulidae Ovulidae, common names the ovulids, cowry allies or false cowries, is a family of small to large predatory or parasitic sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Cypraeoidea, the cowries and cowry allies are also often referred to as cowries. In the British Isles 1 These are the official languages of the eight jurisdictions within the British Isles. Other languages are spoken, including several other native languages and dialects that have regional or special status the local Trivia species (family Triviidae, species Trivia monacha Trivia monacha, also known as the European cowrie or spotted cowrie, is a species of small sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Triviidae, the trivias and Trivia arctica) are sometimes called cowries. The Ovulidae and the Triviidae are somewhat closely related to the Cypraeidae.

Contents

Distribution

Cypraeidae are found in tropical The tropics is a region of the Earth by the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately 23°26' N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at 23°26' (23.5°) S. The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone (see geographical zone) and subtropical The subtropics are the geographical and climatical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S. The term "subtropical" describes the climatic region found adjacent to the tropics, usually between 20 and 40 oceans and seas worldwide.

Shell description

Shells of various species of cowries; all but one have their anterior ends pointing towards the top of the page in this image

The shells of cowries are almost always smooth and shiny and more or less egg In most birds, reptiles, insects, fish, and two types of mammals an egg (Latin, ovum) is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum. To enable incubation the egg is usually kept within a favourable temperature range as it nourishes and protects the growing embryo. When the embryo is adequately developed it breaks out of the egg in the-shaped, with a long, narrow, slit-like opening (aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture of an optical system is the opening that determines the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. The aperture determines how collimated the admitted rays are, which is of great importance for the appearance at).

All cowry shells have a porcelain-like shine except Hawaii The state encompasses nearly the entire volcanic Hawaiian Island chain, which comprises hundreds of islands spread over 1,500 miles . At the southeastern end of the archipelago, the eight "main islands" are (from the northwest to southeast) Niʻihau, Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, Kahoʻolawe, Maui, and Hawaiʻi. The last is by's granulated cowry, Cypraea granulata. Many have colorful patterns. Lengths range from 5 mm To help compare different orders of magnitude this page lists lengths between 1 kilometre and 10 kilometres for some species up to 15 cm for the tiger cowry, Cypraea tigris.

Human use

Main article: Shell money Shell money is a medium of exchange that was once common. It consisted either of whole sea shells or pieces of them which were worked into beads or otherwise artificially shaped. The use of shells in trade began as direct commodity exchange, the shells having value as body ornamentation. The distinction between beads as commodities and beads as A live map cowry Cypraea mappa in East Timor East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor. The small country of 15,410 km² (5,400 sq mi) is located about 640 km (400 mi) northwest of

The shells of cowries (especially Cypraea moneta) were used for centuries as a currency in Africa. Huge amounts of Maldivian cowries were introduced into Africa by western nations during the period of slave trade The history of slavery covers systems throughout human history in which one human being is legally the property of another, can be bought or sold, is not allowed to escape and must work for the owner without any choice involved. A critical element is that children of a slave mother automatically become slaves. It does not include forced labor by.[2] The Ghanaian The Republic of Ghana is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south. The word Ghana means "Warrior King" and is derived from the ancient Ghana Empire unit of currency known as the Ghanaian cedi The cedi is the unit of currency of Ghana. One cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas. The present cedi was introduced on July 3, 2007, and was equal to 10,000 old cedi when redenomination saw four zeros lopped off the value. It was the highest-valued currency unit issued by sovereign countries in Africa in 2007 was named after cowry shells. Starting over three thousand years ago, cowry shells, or copies of the shells, were used as Chinese currency Currently, Renminbi or in other words yuan is the currency in China. , The Peoples Republic of China's currency, abbreviated to RMB, is the currency on the mainland of the People's Republic of China. The units for the Renminbi are the Yuan (元), Jiao (角), Fen (分): 1 Yuan = 10 Jiao = 100 Fen. Fen have almost disappeared, so the coins in[3]. They were also used as means of exchange in India India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with 1.18 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world. Mainland India is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal on the.

The Classical Chinese Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese. Classical Chinese was once used for almost all formal correspondence before and during the beginning of the 20th century, not only in China but also, character for money(貝) originated as a stylized drawing of a cowrie shell. Words and characters concerning money, property or wealth usually has this as a radical Radicals in Chinese characters refer to the section headers of a Chinese dictionary . Radicals are used to organise Chinese characters in Chinese dictionaries. All Chinese characters can be classified into radicals. The indexing system supports Chinese characters throughout the ages, from Shuōwén Jiézì characters to modern ones.

The Ojibway The Ojibwe or Chippewa (also Chippeway) are among the largest groups of Native Americans-First Nations north of Mexico. They are the third-largest in the United States, surpassed only by Cherokee and Navajo. They are equally divided between the United States and Canada. Because they were formerly located mainly around Sault Ste. Marie, at the aboriginal people in North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast used cowry shells which they called sacred Megis Shells or whiteshells in Midewiwin The Midewiwin or the Grand Medicine Society is a secretive religion of the aboriginal groups of the Maritimes, New England and Great Lakes regions in North America. Its practitioners are called Midew and the practices of Midewiwin referred to as Mide. Occasionally, male Midew are called Midewinini, which sometimes is translated into English as ceremonies, and the Whiteshell Provincial Park Whiteshell Provincial Park is a 2,729 km2 park centrally located in Canada in the province of Manitoba. It can be found in the southeast of the province along the Manitoba-Ontario border, approximately 130 km east of Winnipeg. The park is located in the Canadian Shield region and has many rivers, remote lakes, boreal forest and bare granite ridges in Manitoba According to the 2006 Census, the largest ethnic group in Manitoba is English Canadian , but there is a significant Franco-Manitoban minority (148,370) and a growing aboriginal population (192,865, including the Métis). Other ethnic groups include Germans (216,755 - the second-largest group), Scots (209,170), and the Irish (155,915). Manitoba is, Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three is named after this type of shell. There is some debate about how the Ojibway traded for or found these shells, so far inland and so far north, very distant from the natural habitat. Oral stories and birch bark scrolls Wiigwaasabak are birch bark scrolls, on which the Ojibwa (Anishinaabe) people of North America wrote complex geometrical patterns and shapes. When used specifically for Midewiwin ceremonial use, these scrolls are called mide-wiigwaas. These writings enabled the memorization of complex ideas, and passing along history and stories to succeeding seem to indicate that the shells were found in the ground, or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. Finding the cowry shells so far inland could indicate the previous use of them by an earlier tribe or group in the area, who may have obtained them through an extensive trade network in the ancient past. Petroforms Petroforms, also known as boulder outlines or boulder mosaics, are human-made shapes and patterns made by lining up large rocks on the open ground, often on quite level areas. Petroforms in North America were originally made by Indigenous Peoples, who used various terms to describe them. Petroforms can also include a rock cairn or inukshuk, an in the Whiteshell Provincial Park Whiteshell Provincial Park is a 2,729 km2 park centrally located in Canada in the province of Manitoba. It can be found in the southeast of the province along the Manitoba-Ontario border, approximately 130 km east of Winnipeg. The park is located in the Canadian Shield region and has many rivers, remote lakes, boreal forest and bare granite ridges may be as old as 8,000 years.

Cowry shells are also worn as jewelry Jewellery or jewelry (see American and British English spelling differences) signifies items of personal adornment, such as necklaces, rings, brooches, earrings and bracelets. Jewellery may be made from any material, such as gemstones, precious metals or shells, besides other materials, depending on cultural differences and availability of or otherwise used as ornaments Fashion, a general term for the style and custom prevalent at a given time, in its most common usage refers to costume or clothing style. The more technical term, costume, has become so linked in the public eye with the term "fashion" that the more general term "costume" has in popular use mostly been relegated to special or charms An amulet , a close cousin of the talisman (from Arabic طلاسم tilasm, consists of any object intended to bring good luck and/or protection to its owner. Potential amulets include: gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants, animals, etc.; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro. They are viewed as symbols A symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On maps, crossed sabres may indicate a battlefield. Numerals are symbols for numbers . All language consists of symbols of womanhood A woman is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent. However, the term woman is also sometimes used to identify a female human, regardless of age, as in phrases such as "Women's rights", fertility Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction . Infertility is a deficient fertility, birth Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring. The offspring is brought forth from the mother. Different forms of birth are oviparity, vivipary and ovovivipary and wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions or the control of such assets. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem. An individual, community, region or country that possesses an abundance of such possessions or resources is known as wealthy.[4] The symbolism of the cowry shell is associated with the appearance of its underside: the lengthwise opening makes the shell look like a vulva or an eye Eyes are organs that detect light, and convert it to electro-chemical impulses in neurons. The simplest photoreceptors connect light to movement . In higher organisms complex neural pathways exist that connect the eye, via the optic nerve to the visual cortex and other areas of the brain. Complex optical systems with resolving power have come in.[5]

Cowry shells are sometimes used in a way similar to dice A die is a small polyhedral object, usually cubic, used for generating random numbers or other symbols. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices, especially for craps or sic bo, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games, e.g., in board games A board game is a game in which counters or pieces are placed, removed, or moved on a premarked surface or "board" according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve. Early board games represented a battle between two armies and most like Pachisi Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that originated in ancient India; it is described as the national game of India. It is played on a board shaped like a symmetrical cross. A player's pieces move around the board based upon a throw of six or seven cowrie shells , with the number of shells landing aperture upwards indicating the number of, Ashta Chamma (board game) or in divination Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a standardized process or ritual. Diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a querent should proceed by reading signs, events, or omens, or through alleged contact with a supernatural agency. Divination can be seen as a systematic method with which to organize (cf. Ifá In traditional Yoruba culture, Ifá refers to a system of divination and the verses of the literary corpus known as the Odú Ifá. Orunmila is the deity associated with Ifa diviniation. In some instances, the name Orunmila is used interchangeably with the word Ifa. Orunmila is claimed to have brought Ifa divination to the world and the annual customs of Dahomey). A number of shells (6 or 7 in Pachisi) are thrown, with those landing aperture upwards indicating the actual number rolled.

On the Fiji Islands, a shell of the golden cowry or bulikula, Cypraea aurantium, was drilled at the ends and worn on a string around the neck by chieftans as a badge of rank.[6]

Large cowry shells such as that of Cypraea tigris have been used in Europe in the recent past as a frame over which sock heels were stretched for darning. The cowry's smooth surface allows the needle to be positioned under the cloth more easily.

Species

This section needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Gastropods or the Gastropods Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (July 2009)

Media

Live specimens of Cypraea helvola (seen first) & Cypraea caputserpentis (last)

Live Cypraea isabella (next to a Cypraea sulcidentata)

See also

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary: "The ceramic material was apparently so named on account of the resemblance of its translucent surface to the nacreous shell of the mollusc. [...] The cowrie was probably originally so named on account of the resemblance of the fissure of its shell to a vulva (it is unclear whether the reference is spec. to the vulva of a sow)."
  2. ^ Hogendorn, Jan and Johnson Marion: The Shell Money of the Slave Trade. African Studies Series 49, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1986.
  3. ^ "Money Cowries" by Ardis Doolin in Hawaiian Shell News, NSN #306, June, 1985
  4. ^ Radiance from the Waters: Ideals of Feminine Beauty in Mende Art by Sylvia Ardyn Boone. Yale University Press, 1986.
  5. ^ "Cowrie Shells as Amulets in Europe" by W. L. Hildburgh in Folklore, 1942
  6. ^ Cowries as a badge of rank in Fiji.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cypraeidae
Wikispecies has information related to: Cypraeidae

Categories: Cypraeidae

 

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My cat has issues! what can i do?
Q. I recently moved house and at first my cat was fine. But now he has started freaking out all the time. He hides under the cough, he cowries in the corners and meows all the time like he is scared or lost. Also he had a brother which (because of my rental agreement) i had to get rid off. So i can understand that he may be lonely and confused about his new home...but what can i do? Should i just be patient? or is there something i can give him? He is started to drive me nuts...but i love him to much to give him up? Will he get better though? He is 4 years old and has lived in the last place for 3 years with his brother, if that helps. Thanks guys :) Naps With Cats: WOW, i didn't know they had stuff like that. That sounds really good. I'll… [cont.]
Asked by Penny - Sun Apr 5 21:25:00 2009 - - 4 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Sounds like he's grieving the loss of his brother's presence in his life and probably angry about it and scared that he might be next. Buy some Feliway plug-ins, speak in soft tones to him, coax him to play (laser lights are awesome) and stay patient with him, give him extra love. He's missing his brother. When my cat lost my other cat to cancer, he became severely depressed and angry - total change. Once I adopted a kitten a couple of months later, he was a happy boy again.
Answered by naps_with_cats - Sun Apr 5 21:44:47 2009

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