Snails have shells the moment they're born, but it's kind of hard to tell. In fact, it's hard to even see a baby snail. Some are nearly microscopic, such as Angustopila psammion, whose adult-sized ...

This is the only animal in the world known to incorporate iron into its exoskeleton. It builds its shell out of the stuff, and even its soft, fleshy foot is covered in thick iron plates like a ...

Snail shells are often colorful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on ...