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.
Read more at The New York Times »