Photo of the Day 359

Fossil Mold, Aus, Namibia, 1998

Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta

A paleontologist in Aus, Namibia, makes a mold of a Pteridinium by brushing multiple layers of latex on the fossil. Though their remains are common in many parts of the world, much about these and other similar Precambrian life forms has puzzled scientists, including whether they were plants, animals, or something in between.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Life Grows Up," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)