An inordinate fondness for slugs: Phylogenomics of the diverse gastropod clade Heterobranchia, a group key to our understanding of the evolution of shell reduction and loss

• Main Author: Knutson, Vanessa L.
• Other Authors: Girguis, Peter, Srivastava, Mansi, Knoll, Andrew, Davis, Charles
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: heterobranch; phylogenetics; phylotranscriptomics; sea slug; snail; systematics; Biology; Zoology; Evolution & development; Lopez; Medina; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37371199

Gastropods are exquisitely successful organisms, their shell undoubtedly playing a key role in their success. Despite being such an effective defense mechanism, the gastropod shell has been reduced, lost or internalized several times throughout evolutionary history, occurring in at least four of the...