Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology which deals with the study of mollusks, the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species1 after the arthropods. One division of malacology, conchology, is devoted to the study of mollusk shells.
Those who study malacology are known as malacologists.
Fields of malacological research include taxonomy, ecology and evolution. Applied malacology studies medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, for example mollusks as vectors of disease, as in 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 Malacological Society was founded.
Societies
Journals
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. 2
- 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
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