Del océano al verso. Las caracolas de Pablo Neruda

of shapes, colors and patterns takes us back to the evolutionary changes they have been through since the Phanerozoic Eon, that is, 541 million years ago, when the first species of this kind appeared in the oceans. 26 If we consider that Homo sapiens-sapiens’ history began approximately only 120.000 years ago 27 , it’s easier to grasp the vastness of time and to notice that molluscs have witnessed the history of the planet and its transformations way before the apparition of human beings. Today there are around 100.000 species of molluscs, an enormous diversity directly connected to their adaptation abilities when it comes to environmental conditions, defense strategies, and other factors. These magnificent adaptation abilities have allowed them to reach practically every ecosystem, be it aquatic or terrestrial. One amazing example is the case of the Xenophora pallidula (Reeve, 1842), also known as the "Pale Carrier-shell", a species that takes the remains of molluscs, stones and objects found in its environment and attaches them to its shell with the purpose of reinforcing its support to the seafloor and camouflaging both visually and olfactorily. 28 Such disposition has allowed these molluscs to get along with their surroundings and also to relate to other species in the ecosystem. For example, Tridacna [26] Dirección General de Comunicación Social. "Bivalvos: Diversidad a tra- vés del tiempo", Boletín UNAM-DGCS-588 (2015). [27] Carolina Valdebenito. "Definiendo al Homo sapiens-sapiens: aproximación antropológica", Acta bioeth 13 n° 1 (2007). [28] RobertM. Linsle, y Ellis Yochelson. Devonian Carrier Shells (Euomphalidae) from North America and Germany (United States Government Printing Office, 1973). 112 universidad de chile