Scientists are looking to the mollusk for cues on how to develop new armor to protect American troops in battle.
Seashells could inspire tough, lightweight, transparent armor for soldiers to wear in the near future to protect their faces and eyes, Live Science reported.
Researchers are looking at the oyster variety Placuna placenta, which has a shell that allows 80 percent of visible light to come through.
"We have long studied natural exoskeletons as inspiration for the development of advanced engineered protective systems," said study author Christine Ortiz, a materials scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "About five years ago we started searching for natural armor systems, which were also optically clear."
Working with her colleague Ling Li, she examined the mollusk shell to see if it could work for "soldier eye or face protection, windows and windshields, blast shields and combat vehicles," Ortiz told Live Science.
The mostly transparent shell, which is sometimes used in place of glass in Asian countries, is made almost solely of calcite but can handle impacts surprisingly well.
The researchers looked at how the mollusk shell responded to dents from a diamond-tipped probe, discovering that the way the shell formed around the area that had been penetrated kept cracks from spreading.
"This is the first thorough study of a natural armor that resists mechanical penetration but is also optically clear," Ortiz told Live Science. "We wanted to find out how the material resists penetration but also preserves this unique optical property."
The shell deformed in a way called "twinning," which is when calcite forms around the penetration zone to keep the damage minimal and preserve the rest of the structure.
Researchers will keep examining seashells to see if armor similar to them could be fashioned to sustain multiple hits.
"We are continuing to study other armored species that exhibit semitransparent properties and intend to create a library of biological design principles," Ortiz told Live Science.
Li and Ortiz wrote about their findings in a study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Materials.
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