cowry
Sign in to savethumb|Cowrie (Ovatipsa chinensis|Cypraea chinensis) with fully extended mantle thumb|Shells of various species of cowrie; all but one have their anterior ends pointing towards the top of this image.
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- Shell description
- Human use
- Monetary use
- Ritual use
- Jewelry
- Games and gambling
- Other
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|Cowrie (Ovatipsa chinensis|Cypraea chinensis) with fully extended mantle thumb|Shells of various species of cowrie; all but one have their anterior ends pointing towards the top of this image.
Cowrie or cowry () is the common name for a group of small to large sea snails in the family Cypraeidae.