In Baculites, a straight shelled ammonite, the constructional limits on shell shape resulting from the limited strength of nacre in tension are circumvented by a system of vaults in the phragmocone.

IT WAS A JUNE afternoon in the late 1970s when I bit into my first soft-shell crab. On the porch of a Chesapeake Bay seafood shack, I was soon inhaling one crunch-coated crustacean after another. They ...

It's difficult not to be attracted to the exquisiteness of marine cone snail shells. And yet, the shell's function is obviously not to be beautiful, but to provide protection for its invertebrate ...

An animal's shell is subjected to stress throughout its life, and residual stress can be released and measured as strain. The shape and texture of the shell are advantageous features of design.