hinge line
{{Short description|Place where a bivalve's halves meet}}
A hinge line is an imaginary longitudinal line along the dorsal edge of the shell of a bivalve mollusk where the two valves hinge or articulate. The hinge line can easily be perceived in these images of a mussel shell and an ark shell.{{Cite web | url=http://paleo.cortland.edu/tutorial/Bivalves/bivalvemorph.htm | title=Bivalvia Morphology | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129012821/http://paleo.cortland.edu/tutorial/Bivalves/bivalvemorph.htm | archive-date=2020-01-29}}{{cite web |url=http://www.shellmuseum.org/BivalvesLeal.pdf |title=Bivalves |accessdate=2012-11-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511085317/http://www.shellmuseum.org/BivalvesLeal.pdf |archivedate=2013-05-11 | author=J.H. Leal | website=www.shellmuseum.org}}{{Cite web | title=Invertebrate Paleobiology on-line syllabus on Bivalves| first=Burt | last=Carter | publisher=Georgia Southwestern State University | url=http://itc.gsw.edu/faculty/bcarter/paleo/labs/moll/biv2.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200225231137/http://itc.gsw.edu/faculty/bcarter/paleo/labs/moll/biv2.htm | archive-date=2020-02-25}}
The hinge teeth, structures which control the articulation of the valves, are often but not always situated along the hinge line.
