What is Radula?
[[Image:Radula diagram3.png|thumb|right|250px|Transverse view of the buccal cavity with the radula]] The '''radula''' is the toothed [[chitin]]ous ribbon in the mouth of most [[mollusc]]s.<ref>{{cite journal|author = Hickman Carole, S |title = Gastropod radulae and the sssessment of form in evolutionary paleontology|url = https://archive.org/details/sim_paleobiology_summer-1980_6_3/page/276 |journal = Paleobiology|volume = 6|issue= 3|year = 1980|pages = 276–294|doi = 10.1017/S0094837300006801| s2cid=89455588 }}</ref> It can be compared with the [[tongue]] of human beings but, unlike our tongue, it is used for cutting and chewing food before it enters the [[esophagus]]. The radula is present in all molluscs except [[Bivalvia|bivalves]], and only in molluscs. For example, [[Gastropoda|Gastropods]] use it to graze and scrape [[diatom]]s and other microscopic [[alga]]e off rock surfaces and other substrata. [[Squid]] use it for cutting up their prey. == References == {{Reflist}} == Other websites == * [http://www.manandmollusc.net/advanced_introduction/gastro_radula.html Molluscan buccal structures and radula] * [http://www.opwall.com/Library/Indonesia/Indonesia%20Marine/Invertebrates/Nudibranch%20report.htm A Comparison of the feeding behaviour and the functional morphology of radula structure in Nudibranchs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313163313/http://www.opwall.com/Library/Indonesia/Indonesia%20Marine/Invertebrates/Nudibranch%20report.htm |date=2007-03-13 }} [[Category:Molluscs]] [[Category:Animal anatomy]]