A genus of small marine mollusks with shell-like bodies that resemble tiny curved teeth.
From New Latin, derived from Latin 'dentalis' (dental, tooth-like) plus the Latin genus suffix '-ia.' Named for the tooth-like appearance of the mollusk's shell.
Dentallia shells are so tiny and tooth-like that Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest used them as currency—they were precious enough to be traded like coins for thousands of years!
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