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.
For mating male octopuses, one limb is more important than all others. That is the third right arm or hectocotylus, which is used to transfer sperm to the female because the penis cannot do it directly. Losing the limb can ...
A famous 300-million-year-old fossil that was thought to be the world's oldest octopus—even featuring in the Guinness Book of Records—has turned out to be something else altogether. In what amounts to a case of mistaken identity, ...
Evolution
Apr 7, 2026
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Nautilus and Allonautilus cephalopods and their extinct ancestors have been drifting through the mesophotic zone of the ocean for more than 500 million years. Researchers have spent the last 40 years trying to understand ...
Evolution
Apr 5, 2026
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A new study by Harvard biologists reveals how octopuses feel their way to potential mates with a "taste by touch" sensory system and can even couple at arm's length without actually seeing each other. In a study featured ...
Plants & Animals
Apr 2, 2026
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The rocks beneath our feet are leaving a hidden signature in the shells of marine snails along Australia's ancient coastline, according to new research led by Adelaide University scientists. A study published in Proceedings ...
Ecology
Mar 18, 2026
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For an oyster, creating an internal environment for calcification that forms its distinctive hard shell is essential. But new Harvard research has found that these bivalves may outsource the work, coordinating with microbes ...
Ecology
Mar 12, 2026
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Scientists have discovered a new species of chiton, an ancient marine mollusk that has remained virtually unchanged for the last 300 million years. Chitons have an elongated oval shape with a shell composed of eight interlocking ...
Paleobiologist Geerat Vermeij is enthralled with mollusks. Their shells line the surfaces and fill the cabinets and drawers in his office on the second floor of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Building at UC Davis. But Vermeij's ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 4, 2026
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The deep sea is a dark, cold place. It's just a few degrees above freezing, subject to immense pressure, and beyond the reach of the sunlight needed for photosynthesis. The life that does survive in such a hostile place must ...
Evolution
Mar 2, 2026
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The Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance (SOSA), in partnership with the scientific publisher Pensoft Publishers and science YouTuber Ze Frank, have let the internet name a newly discovered deep‑sea chiton (a type of marine ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 6, 2026
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