| Silicified Syringopora (replaced by the mineral silicon dioxide), an extinct tabulate coral (sometimes called affectionately a "spaghetti coral") from the Lower Mississippian Tin Mountain Limestone locality near Towne Pass, Inyo County, California; collected on public lands before the paleontologically rich exposures there were assimilated into the borders of Death Valley National Park. Photograph was originally snapped with a Nikon 35mm camera--then, digitally remastered and eventually edited and processed through photoshop (creating the black background, for one). |