In 1849, a gang of railroad workers racing to build the first railroad across Vermont stumbled upon the fossil bones of a mysterious animal buried deep in sticky, blue clay. A local natural historian was consulted who quickly and correctly declared the bones to be those of a beluga whale. But with one question answered, a dozen more sprang up. How did the bones of a small, white whale end up buried ten feet beneath a rural Vermont farm field, two mountain ranges and over 200 miles from the nearest ocean? Why did two of the most significant fossil discoveries in 19th century New England occur...