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MOLLUSKS
"Mollusks are an amazingly diverse array
of often quite beautiful animals. Most of them have shells:
snails have one shell, clams have two shells, and chitons have
eight shells. Some mollusks however, lost their shells completely,
like some snails, but also like squid and octopi. The giant
squid located within the Hall of Biodiversity is the oldest
model that's been on continuous display at the American Museum
of Natural History since we first opened our doors."
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| DR. NILES ELDREDGE, CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF INVERTEBRATES |
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KNOWN SPECIES
Approximately 70,000; 200,000 estimated
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SIZE RANGE
1 millimeter to 20 meters
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WHERE THEY LIVE
In oceans, fresh waters, and in moist
land areas
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ECOLOGICAL ROLES AND HUMAN USES
Herbivores, predators, scavengers, filter
feeders • Some are keystone species (exerting a disproportionate
effect on their ecosystem's structure through their predation)
• Help purify water • Used by humans as food, for shells, as
research subjects, and as a source of medicines
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