Shells of the World: A Natural History

A marvelously illustrated natural history of the world’s mollusks

Mollusks are invertebrate animals with a remarkable natural history and a rich fossil record, and their shells are prized for their breathtaking variety and exquisite beauty. Shells of the World provides a wide-ranging look at the incredible diversity of marine mollusks. An informative introduction outlines the lineages covered, followed by a directory section, split into classes, that profiles a broad selection of different taxa to give a sense of their sheer numbers and variety.

• Features hundreds of beautiful color photos, depicting both the live animals and their shells
• Discusses mollusk evolution, anatomy, life cycles, behavior, and ecology
• Describes unique characteristics, distribution, habitat, and size
• Provides valuable insights into the conservation of the world’s marine mollusks
• Ideal for malacologists and shell collectors everywhere

M. G. Harasewych is research zoologist emeritus and former curator in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, he is the author (with Fabio Moretzsohn) of The Book of Shells: A Life-Size Guide to Identifying and Classifying Six Hundred Seashells.