"James Rollins - Subterranean" - читать интересную книгу автора (Romeyn Henry)

"And you're the archaeologist. If it wasn't for my study of evolutionary biology, I wouldn't have
recognized it."

"Well, what do you think it is?" Ben asked, lifting the shell into his hands, curious what all the commotion
was about.

"It's the shell from an ammonite, a predatory squid," Linda said. "SpeciesMaorites densicostatus ."

"What?" Ashley snatched the shell back from Ben. She examined it again with keener interest, now
holding it like it was the finest porcelain. "That's impossible. This is an actual shell. Not a fossil."

Ben stared at his empty hands. "What's the big deal? What's so bloody exciting about it anyway?"

Both women ignored him. "Are you sure?" Ashley asked. "Paleobiology was not a specialty of mine."

"Yes," Linda said. "Look here, at these striations. No modern mollusk has this conformation. And look
at the chambering inside. Only one species has this unique shell. Definitely an ammonite."

Ashley leaned in closer. "But what's it doing here? Ammonites died out with the dinosaurs at the end of
the Cretaceous period. This is an old shell, but I don't believe it dates back sixty-five million years."

"Let me take a look," Ben said, lifting the shell. "Many caves have preserved fossils, protected from the
weather. Maybe this shell is just well preserved."

Linda nodded. "Perhaps. But before the expedition, in preparation for the trip, I read up on Antarctica's
wildlife. On Seymour Island not far from here, scientists discovered many ammonite fossils. Remains that
datedlater than the Cretaceous extinction."

"Cretaceous extinction?" Ben asked. "What're you talking about?"

Ashley answered, "About 65 million years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous period, a great cataclysm
wiped out huge numbers of species, including the dinosaurs. Some researchers theorized a massive
asteroid struck the earth at that time, blowing up clouds of dust that blocked the sun and chilled the
planet."

"Right," Linda added. "And the paleontologists studying Antarctica now believe that Antarctica's polar
vortex may have stirred the winds enough to keep the asteroid's sky-darkening particles clear of this
area, sparing this continent the great extinction."

Ben interrupted. "That's all old history. So these snails survived longer than anyone thought. So what? I
meanтАФ"
 "Linda!" Khalid called. He had wandered off and knelt by the edge of the pond. "Here's another shell."
He reached into the water, immersing his arm almost to his shoulder. "I can't reach . . . wait, no . . . there
. . . I got it." He pulled his drenched arm out, his hand clasped around a shell larger than the first one. He
straightened up, holding the shell above his head like a trophy.

Ben shook his head. Showing off big-time, he thought. He opened his mouth to make a comment when
suddenly, from the shell, a flurry of thrashing tentacles sprouted. Linda gasped.