But this mussel was tiny and pale and, strangest of all, lived a mere 60 feet or so down. Dr. Distel and his colleagues discovered the mussel while they were investigating an ancient underwater forest off the coast of Alabama. During the last ice age, bald cypresses grew in what was then a swamp a hundred miles from the ocean. Then, sometime between 45,000 and 70,000 years ago, as sea levels rose, the trees were swallowed by the advancing sea. For millenniums, all was still in the forest, until heavy waves stirred up by one of the hurricanes of 2004 scooped away the sand.

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Persons: Dan Distel, wasn’t, Distel, Vadumodiolus, cypresses, Ben Raines Organizations: Genome, Northeastern University Locations: Boston, Alabama, Gulf of Mexico