Mollusks are a highly diverse phylum (Mollusca) of invertebrate animals that constitute a major topic in zoology and evolutionary biology, encompassing classes such as Gastropoda, Bivalvia, and Cephalopoda. They are characterized by a soft, unsegmented body typically organized into head, visceral mass, and muscular foot, with many species secreting a calcareous shell from a specialized mantle. Research on mollusks addresses themes including biomineralization, neurobiology (especially in cephalopods), developmental and evolutionary genetics, functional morphology of feeding and locomotion, ecological roles in marine and freshwater systems, and their importance as model organisms in environmental toxicology and climate-change impact studies.
Snails are particularly active after a rain shower. Even on the Max Planck Campus in Potsdam-Golm, common brown-lipped snails (Cepaea nemoralis) leave behind shiny trails of mucus. Researchers from the "Biomaterials" department ...
Plants & Animals
Aug 7, 2026
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An international study led by Curtin University has put to bed a scientific debate dating back 176 years, confirming that two historically significant oyster species from Western Australia and Fiji are distinct species.
Ecology
Aug 3, 2026
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8
Extant and ancient cephalopods—including octopuses, squids, extinct ammonites, cuttlefish and nautiluses—have all had to solve the problem of buoyancy, whether they have hard external shells or not.
Evolution
Jul 29, 2026
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249
The octopus is a biological oddity. It can use tools, open jars, and its complex nervous system supports as many neurons as a small primate. Now Harvard biologists have discovered a mysterious distinction in octopuses' core ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 29, 2026
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173
The descriptions of the two new additions to the European snail fauna, named Cochlostoma komarnica and Cochlostoma dobrido, have been published in the open-access Biodiversity Data Journal.
Plants & Animals
Jul 27, 2026
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9
An international study led by researchers from the University of Tartu shows that approximately 470 million years ago, a significant ecological change took place in the world's oceans: For the first time, the interiors of ...
Ecology
Jul 22, 2026
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34
A team of researchers from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has discovered a completely new genus and species of subterranean freshwater snail in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece. The species, Cyllena ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 16, 2026
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16
A study published in the journal Biological Invasions indicates that Brazil currently has at least 82 non-native mollusk species, in addition to 13 whose origin cannot be determined. This represents a 215% increase compared ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 1, 2026
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10
How does a stripy tree snail hide from hungry birds? The Hypselostyla camelopardalis from the Philippines and Reinia variegata from Japan have both evolved a form of dynamic camouflage to survive. Their light-colored patterns ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 30, 2026
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14
Researchers have identified a severe outbreak of a rare contagious cancer in soft-shell clams in Washington state's Puget Sound and found evidence that the disease was recently introduced to the Pacific Northwest from Atlantic ...
Plants & Animals
Jun 24, 2026
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