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Mollusks (Malacology)

MOLLUSKS AT CARNEGIE MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

The molluscan collection at Carnegie Museum of Natural History is the 13th largest in North America. The collection contains representatives of six of the seven Recent molluscan classes, Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Cephalophoda, Polyplacophora, Scaphopoda, and Solenogastres, with particular strengths in the Gastropoda and Bivalvia.

Section of Mollusks Collection Highlights

The Section of Mollusks collection at Carnegie Museum of Natural History contains specimens that are valuable to researchers both locally and worldwide. The collection boasts more terrestrial and freshwater mollusks from western Pennsylvania and adjacent states than any other museum and is especially strong in North American freshwater mussels (Unionoida), fingernail and pea clams (Sphaeriidae), terrestrial gastropods, and freshwater gastropods. Although the collection contains primarily recent specimens, it also contains a notable number of Cenozoic fossil specimens, some of which are type specimens.

The majority of specimens are preserved dry, but there are fluid-preserved specimens as well, including soft parts of some now-extinct mollusks. Most of the type specimens are terrestrial gastropods and freshwater bivalves (primarily Sphaeriidae) from North and South America, with many additional terrestrial gastropods from Japan and the Pacific Islands, as well as some marine mollusks. The collection also contains a number of rare and extinct species of mollusks.

Section of Mollusks Collection Inquiries

The Section of Mollusks collection database is currently on-line searchable at http://www.invertebase.org/portal/collections/index.php. For other inquiries about specimens of taxonomic groups or from geographical areas in the collection, collection questions, or requests to visit the collection, please contact the curator of collections. Normal working hours for visits are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m., though special arrangements may be made for visitors requiring extended hours.

Research requests to borrow specific specimens may also be made and are granted at the discretion of the assistant curator of the Section of Mollusks. Specimen loans are typically made to permanent staff at universities and museums; loans to students are typically made in care of their advisors who are responsible for the loan. Any destructive sampling of the specimens such as dissection, tissue sampling (e.g., for molecular studies), radula studies, or shell chemistry studies must be approved in writing in advance. All parts remaining after such sampling must be returned. At the time the loan is returned, we request confirmation of identifications or re-identifications. Please acknowledge Carnegie Museum of Natural History as the source of the material. We request copies of any publications resulting from the study of the loaned material. We especially appreciate when catalog numbers are mentioned in publications.

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Ask A Scientist – Are Slugs Just Snails with their Shells Taken Off?
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Meet the Researchers

Pearce, Tim

TIM PEARCE, Ph.D.

Curator of Collections

Behind-the-Scenes Tour in Mollusks

Behind the scenes tour of the section of mollusks

Get a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at scientists in action, and see some of the millions of research specimens in the collection. Check the visitor guide on the day of your visit for more information. From octopuses to oysters, get an up-close look at the weird and wonderful collection of mollusks.

Tours are usually available on the second Saturday of each month with tours available every half hour from 1–3 p.m. However, these tours have been paused due to covid-19.

Mollusks Blogs

  • The Largest Snail I Have Ever Seen

    The Largest Snail I Have Ever Seen

    April 8, 2020
    An inquiry came in (with the subject line: urgent snail question) asking, “How big is the biggest snail you’ve ever seen?” Thinking …
  • How to Wear Your Shell: Snail vs. Monoplacophoran

    How to Wear Your Shell: Snail vs. Monoplacophoran

    March 9, 2020
    Do you wear your baseball cap with the brim in front or in the back? For some headgear, the orientation matters, for …
  • Land Snail Webbhelix multilineata Rediscovered Living in Pennsylvania After 72 Years

    Land Snail Webbhelix multilineata Rediscovered Living in Pennsylvania After 72 Years

    February 10, 2020
    Imagine the excitement of finding an organism that was presumed extinct. Until 2019, the handsome land snail Webbhelix multilineata had not been …
  • Tornadoes, Snails, and Sample Sizes

    Tornadoes, Snails, and Sample Sizes

    October 29, 2019
    In 2012, a tornado felled trees in four places at Carnegie Museum’s field station, Powdermill Nature Reserve in southwestern Pennsylvania, about 1-hour …
  • Is It a New Species? Wish They All Could Be California Snails

    Is It a New Species? Wish They All Could Be California Snails

    September 18, 2019
    Discovering a new species is exciting but determining whether it’s a new species can take some doing. During our project on land …
  • Sperm Whales and Giant Squid: Just-So Story and Co-Evolution

    Sperm Whales and Giant Squid: Just-So Story and Co-Evolution

    June 25, 2019
    Sperm whales dive to great depths (to more than 2 km or 1.4 mi deep) to catch one of their favorite foods: …
  • Horizontal Gene Transfer, the Placenta, and Velvet Worms

    Horizontal Gene Transfer, the Placenta, and Velvet Worms

    May 14, 2019
    Everyone reading this (except you robots out there) inherited genes from their mother and father. This is the predominant way, in multicellular …
  • Is Jabba the Hutt a Slug?

    Is Jabba the Hutt a Slug?

    May 3, 2019
    The movie Star Wars introduced us to Jabba the Hutt, with a slug-like body form. In the movie, he was an unsavory …
  • The Origins of El Niño and the rise of Peruvian Civilization: The Mollusk that made Jim Richardson’s Career

    The Origins of El Niño and the rise of Peruvian Civilization: The Mollusk that made Jim Richardson’s Career

    March 6, 2019
    In 1965 I went to the far north coast of Peru to the petroleum town of Talara to conduct dissertation research. In …

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