1. (used with a sing. verb) A theory that explains the global distribution of geological phenomena such as seismicity, volcanism, continental drift, and mountain building in terms of the formation, destruction, movement, and interaction of the earth's lithospheric plates. 2. (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The dynamics of plate movement.
Despite the fact that mollusks are very susceptible to changes in their environment because of their permeable skin and soft body (often with an exoskeleton in the form of a shell), they have adapted to all of the main environments of our planetâmarine, freshwater, and terrestrial. With 41% of the 736 documented extinctions of all animal species, the number of mollusks exceeds that of any other major taxonomic group 3. 2  Most documented endangered mollusk species are non marine (they live in freshwater or terrestrial environments) 5.
Freshwater mussels are mollusks and are similar to their marine clam and oyster cousins. They have two shells connected by a hinge-like ligament. Around the world, mussels live in a variety of freshwater habitats but are most prevalent in stream and rivers.