Meanings
- pluralplural onlybiologySmall shelly fauna.
Although difficult to interpret, small shellies may hold the key to understanding the origins of shelled and biomineralised groups of animals.
2018, Mark Carnall, “Unidentifiable fossils: palaeontological problematica”, in The Guardian1 more example
Following this is the earliest Cambrian, where large shelly invertebrates are rare (and no trilobites occur), but the commonest fossils are tiny forms nicknamed the “small shellies.”
2009, Joseph Seckbach, Divine Action and Natural Selection, page 486
Cite this entry
small shellies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20shellies
“small shellies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20shellies. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “small shellies,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/small%20shellies.
Source: small shellies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.