Once her attention has been seized, he takes time to enjoy her reaction and savour it.

"Ammonites. Or something very similar." When he speaks his voice is low, almost conspiratorial, even though there's no chance of scaring the creatures away. "On Earth ammonites existed two hundred million years ago, back when there was only one big land mass, and the whole planet was coming out of an Ice Age. They're molluscs, I think, like muscles or snails. These are from alternate reality, or alien world, most likely, but still close to them."