For hundreds of millions of years, the ammonites were the undisputed masters of the ancient currents. These cephalopods, with their mesmerizing spiral shells, were survivors of the highest order, weathering the ‘Great Dying’ of the Permian period that claimed nearly 96% of marine life. Yet, when the asteroid struck 65.5 million years ago, their long reign came to an abrupt end, while their cousins—the nautiloids—persisted into the modern age.

New research from evolutionary biologists, including experts at the University of Oxford, suggests the answer lies in the microscopic. Ammonites produced vast quantities of tiny eggs, a strategy that favored rapid population growth but left their offspring incredibly vulnerable to the environmental collapse following the impact. In contrast, the nautiloids laid fewer, larger eggs, allowing their young to hatch as hardy survivors capable of enduring the darkened, nutrient-poor seas.

This delicate balance between survival and extinction is a phenomenon Owen knows all too well. As he stood at the edge of a jagged cliff in Costa Rica, his amulet pulsed with a violent violet light, signaling a nearby Time Fracture. Peering through the shimmering rift, he could see the prehistoric tides churning—a world where the environment is as unstable as the timelines themselves. The fractures don’t just transport; they agitate the majestic creatures of the past, forcing Owen to witness the exact moments where nature’s resilience meets its breaking point. To stabilize the world, he must understand these echoes of the past before the fractures tear the present apart.

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