Biology and Evolution of the Mollusca

Winston F. Ponder (Ph.D, D.Sc, FRZSNSW) was educated in New Zealand, and employed as a curator at the Australian Museum in 1968, where he was a Principal Research Scientist in 1980 to his retirement in 2005. He has held honorary appointments at several universities through co-supervision of post graduate students and running courses on systematics and on Mollusca. He is currently a Senior Research Fellow of the Australian Museum. He has been actively involved with several societies, in particular, the Malacological Society of Australasia, and edited their journal, Molluscan Research, for 13 years (until last Dec.). He has served on several committees, including the Australian Biological Resources Survey (ABRS) Advisory Committee for six years. His research interests centre on molluscan morphology, systematics, and phylogenetics, especially of gastropods. He has also been involved in the conservation of invertebrates, and his recent research is focused on the biology and systematics of freshwater and estuarine molluscs of Australia and the region as well as the aquatic invertebrate fauna of springs associated with the Australian Great Artesian Basin. He co-edited a book on the phylogeny of molluscs with D. Lindberg (2008) and has edited three other books and, to date, is the author of 247 reviewed publications. He is also involved in the production of interactive keys to marine and freshwater molluscs. David R. Lindberg is Professor Emeritus of Integrative Biology, Curator Emeritus in the UC Museum of Paleontology, and a former member of the Center for Computational Biology at UC Berkeley. He is a former Chair of the Department of Integrative Biology, Director of the UC Museum of Paleontology, and Chair of the UC Berkeley Natural History Museums. He has authored over 125 peer-reviewed papers and edited or authored 3 books on the evolutionary history of nearshore marine organisms and their habitats. At Berkeley, he served as major advisor to 21 Ph.D graduate students and 6 post-doctoral researchers. In addition to providing graduate seminars in evolution and organismal biology, he regularly taught a marine mammal course, an invertebrate zoology course with laboratories, and 2 semester principals of phylogenetics course. Prof. Lindberg has conducted research and fieldwork along the rocky shores of the Pacific Rim for over 40 years. In addition to his research and teaching, Prof. Lindberg was actively involved in K·16 outreach projects at the UC Museum of Paleontology, and focused on the use of the Internet to increase access to scientific resources, and the training of teachers in principles of evolutionary biology, science, and global change.

Volume One

Chapter 1 - Introducing Molluscs

Chapter 2 - Overview of Molluscan Physiology and Genomics

Chapter 3 - Shell, Body, and Muscles

Chapter 4 - The Mantle Cavity and Respiration

Chapter 5 - Feeding and Digestion

Chapter 6 - Circulatory and Excretory Systems

Chapter 7 - Nervous System, Sense Organs, Learning and Behaviour

Chapter 8 - Reproduction and Development

Chapter 9 - Natural History and Ecology

Chapter 10 - Molluscs and Humans

Chapter 11 - Research on Molluscs – Some Historical, Present, and Future Directions

Volume Two

Chapter 12 - Molluscan Relationships

Chapter 13 - Early History and Extinct Groups

Chapter 14 - Polyplacophora, Monoplacophora, and Aplacophora

Chapter 15 - The Bivalvia

Chapter 16 - The Scaphopoda

Chapter 17 - The Cephalopoda

Chapter 18 - Gastropoda I—Introduction and the Stem Groups

Chapter 19 - Gastropoda II—The Caenogastropoda

Chapter 20 - Gastropoda III—The Heterobranchia

Chapter 21 - Molluscan Research—Present and Future Directions