| Carbonized pelecypod clams I collected from exposures of the middle Eocene Coldwater Sandstone (dated by magnetostratigraphy at 42.5 to 39.5 million years old) at the so-called "Coldwater Clam Quarry" in the foothills of the Santa Ynez Mountains, above (that is, north of) Santa Barbara, California. It's a locality rich with several species of Eocene mollusks--bivalve pelecypods and gastropods; occasional shark teeth occur there, too. Both specimens belong to the genus Callista. Photograph originally snapped with a Minolta 35mm camera. |