A sea snail or mollusk (abalone) with a shell that has a shape resembling an ear, valued for food and mother-of-pearl.
From 'ear' plus 'shell,' literally describing the ear-shaped shell of abalone. This common name reflects how people named organisms based on obvious physical features they resembled.
Abalones have been harvested by humans for over 100,000 years based on evidence from South African caves, and their shells were so beautiful and valuable that they became currency in some Pacific cultures.
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