Diagrams (top) and electron microscope images (bottom) of chiton shells. From left to right: Aesthetes (green) are fount on all chitons, while shell eyes (blue) and eyespots (red) only evolved in a ...

You’d probably walk past a chiton without even seeing it. These creatures often look like nothing more than another speck of seaweed on the crusty intertidal rocks. But it sees you. At least, if it’s ...

When it comes to body armor, there's typically a trade-off – it can either be highly impact-resistant or flexible, but not both. That may not be the case for much longer, however, thanks to an ...

Biologists have often wondered what would happen if they could rewind the tape of life’s history and let evolution play out all over again. Would lineages of organisms evolve in radically different ...

A team of MIT researchers has looked closer than ever before at the unique shells of chitons, using X-rays to discover their secrets. The results reveal a no-compromise setup that provides the tiny ...

This essay was launched by reading an almost unintelligible (to me) scientific paper about chiton eyes. Nevertheless, that paper led to others, and here I have summarized some of the related natural ...

Taking a cue from nature, scientists have deciphered how the biomineral making up the body armor of a chiton mollusk has evolved to create functional eyes embedded in the animal's protective shell.

Many animals are covered in protective armor—shells, scales, plates, and frills that protect their soft bodies. But one group of little-known sea creatures called chitons have evolved armor that's ...

Maddy has a degree in biochemistry from the University of York and specializes in reporting on health, medicine, and genetics. Maddy has a degree in biochemistry from the University of York and ...

A marine mollusk built like a tiny tank can see with eyes made of the same material as its armor. Acanthopleura granulata is a chiton, a pill bug of the sea. This animal has a shell made of ...

It’s easy to start ticking off the natural wonders of the Northwest: old-growth forests, Mount St. Helens, orcas, salmon, Mount Rainier, Columbia Gorge, Crater Lake, the Hoh rain forest, the list goes ...