Malacology

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Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of mollusks, the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species. One division of malacology, conchology, is devoted to the study of the shells of mollusks.

Fields of malacological research include taxonomy, ecology, and evolution. Applied malacology studies medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, for example mollusks as mediators of such diseases as schistosomiasis.

Archaeology employs malacology to understand the evolution of the climate, the biota of the area, and the usage of the site.

In 1794, the first compilation of mollusks was published. In 1868, the German Malacozoological Company was founded.

Societies

• American Malacological Society
• Association of Polish Malacologists (Stowarzyszenie Malakologów Polskich)
• Belgian Malacological Society (Société Belge de Malacologie) - French speaking
• Belgian Society for Conchology (Belgische Vereniging voor Conchyliologie) - Dutch speaking
• Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland
• Conchologists of America
• Dutch Malacological Society (Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging)
• Estonian Malacological Society (Eesti Malakoloogia Ühing)
• European Quaternary Malacologists
• Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society
• Italian Malacological Society (Società Italiana di Malacologia)
• Malacological Society of Australasia
• Malacological Society of London
• Spanish Malacological Society (Sociedad Española de Malacología)
• Western Society of Malacologists

Journals

• Basteria
• Fish & Shellfish Immunology
• Folia Malacologica
• Journal of Molluscan Studies
• Vita Marina
• Journal of Medical and Applied Malacology

Further bibliographic detail

• Editors are L R Cox and J F Peake Proceedings of the First European Malacological Congress September 17-21 1962. Text in English with black and white photographic reproductions, also maps and diagrams.
• D. Heppel, "The long dawn of Malacology: a brief history of malacology from prehistory to the year 1800." Archives of Natural History 22 (3): 301–319 (October 1995).

References

External links

• Links of interest in malacology

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Last updated on Friday January 11, 2008 at 04:39:10 PST (GMT -0800)
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