Loving the chambered nautilus to death

A chambered nautilus swam near Gnemelis Drop-Off, Palau, in the southwestern Pacific. Marine biologists have begun to consider whether it should be listed as an endangered species.

It is a living fossil whose ancestors go back a half billion years—to the early days of complex life on the planet, when the land was barren and the seas were warm.

Naturalists have long marveled at its shell. The logarithmic spiral echoes the curved arms of hurricanes and distant galaxies. In Florence, the Medicis turned the pearly shells into ornate cups and pitchers adorned with gold and rubies.

Now, scientists say, humans are loving the chambered nautilus to death, throwing its very existence into danger.

“A horrendous slaughter is going on out here,” said Peter D. Ward, a biologist from the University of Washington, during a recent census of the marine creature in the Philippines. “They’re nearly wiped out.”

The culprit? Growing sales of jewelry and ornaments derived from the lustrous shell.