| Pectens (also called scallop shells) from the southernmost outcrops of the middle Miocene Temblor Formation (around 16 to 15 million years old), Santa Ynez Mountains, north of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California. This is the same geologic rock unit that produces the world-famous Sharktooth Hill Bone Bed in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada, northeast of Bakersfied, California. Photograph courtesy James Wapotich--a picture snapped on December 27, 2009. I edited and processed the image through photoshop. |