Chiton squamosus (recent) BIRUG 210803D Model
As few as 600 living Chiton species are known, but they date back to the Cambrian; few fossils exist, but the body plan appears highly conserved; ancient or modern, cold or warm sea, all look alike. Mostly found in shallow seawater grazing on algae and other rock encrusting life, they also live 6-7 km deep into the abyss eating sunken wood.
This specimen composes eight plates or “valves” of chitin hardened with aragonite that protect the body, which as with other molluscs is mostly a large muscular “foot”. The chiton’s iron rich radula is the hardest tooth known, 3x harder than human; understanding it’s formation may help with human iron storage diseases like haemochromatosis; and copying the process could have industrial applications. Chitons’ homing ability may be due to the magnetic quality of the iron, with the subradular organ, a sensitive chemoreceptor, acting as the chiton’s “nose”.
This specimen was collected in 1883 by Thomas Douton Russell & scanned by Sian Miller; text by Douglas Salmon.
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