From a McClatchy Network version of a Los Angeles Times story about the coal ship that rammed into Australia’s Great barrier Reef:
Like other coral reefs, the Great Barrier Reef was built literally on the backs of small, colonial animals that make formations resembling tabletops, giant brains or elk horns.
Well, not “literally.” Corals don’t actually have “backs” except in the sense that they have a side facing away from you. The Times version currently online doesn’t include “literally.”