Malacology Malacology Malacology is the branch of invertebrate zoology that deals with the study of the Mollusca (mollusks or molluscs), the second-largest phylum of animals in terms of described species after the arthropods. Mollusks include snails and slugs, clams, octopus and squid, and numerous other kinds, many of which have shells. One division of malacology, conchology, is devoted to the study of mollusk shells. Malacology derives from Greek , "malakos", "soft"; and , "-logia". Fields within malacological research include taxonomy, ecology and evolution. Applied malacology studies medical, veterinary, and agricultural applications, for example mollusks as vectors of disease, as in schistosomiasis.
Linda Marie Fedigan science studies and feminist communities, of what truth there is behind the playful observation that primatology is the "Goddess's discipline." In 1994, Dr. Fedigan set out to investigate whether or not there was a disproportionate number of females in primatology (relative to the other sciences) and if so, why? In her article "Science and the Successful Female: Why There Are so Many Women Primatologists," Fedigan's research confirms that there are significantly more women in primatology than in general biology and more women studying primates than other types of organisms. There are not, however, more women primatologists than there are women