Mollusks, from land snails and slugs to oysters and mussels in the sea, have a few things in common. They have a head. They have a soft middle part that holds their organs. Then, some have a muscle ...

Between the 16th and 19th centuries, when colonialism was the prevailing order, it is not surprising that scientific ...

Learn about how mollusks create these shiny gems and how that biological process could change as Earth’s waters warm Abigail Eisenstadt Smooth pearls in the shape of orbs and ovals are usually created ...

The inside of a mollusk's mouth is a fearsome sight to behold. Most mollusks, from giant squids to predatory slugs, have radulas, or tonguelike structures covered with interlocking teeth that move ...

Biogeographical regions of marine organisms, i.e., their distribution across different habitats, often overlap well with the major global ocean currents. The geological age of the currents plays a ...

Filter-feeding mollusks respond to water pollution in a very detectable and measurable manner. With that fact in mind, scientists have created a commercial water-quality-monitoring system that uses ...

With names like “knobby rams-horn,” “masked duskysnail” and “Hoko vertigo,” Pacific Northwest mollusks may have an amusing image, but they’re also some of the most intriguing invertebrates in the ...

An animal that could be mistaken for a spiky fruit is giving scientists a peek into what mollusks looked like around 500 million years ago. Today’s mollusks are an incredibly diverse group of animals, ...

A tiny marine creature called a chiton might hold the key to better artificial teeth and bones. This rather unexpected possibility comes from a relatively new branch of science called biomaterials.