“Before you do anything else,” curator Chris Meyer said the minute I arrived at the National Museum of Natural History’s Invertebrate Zoology collection, “you have to vote for beauty.” He led me ...

Have you ever wondered about the true nature of cowrie shells? Where do they come from? Are they simply shells, or is there more to their story? You may have a vague understanding that cowries were ...

These sea snails mimic cowrie shells with their soft body, which can retract and change shapes and colours WITH A NAME LIKE ‘little egg cowrie’, and that lovely creamy appearance, you’d be forgiven ...