Dinosaur Coprolite Replica

Description

Dinosaur Coprolite Replica measures 5 inches. Dinosaur Coprolite Replica is mesuem quality polyurethane resin. Hadrosaur. Petrified fecal droppings. Cretaceous North America.

A coprolite (also known as a coprolith) is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal’s behaviour (in this case, diet) rather than morphology. They were first described by William Buckland in 1829. Before this, they were known as “fossil fir cones” and “bezoar stones”. They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms. Coprolites may range in size from a few millimetres to over 60 centimetres.

A coprolite, also known as a coprolith is fossilized feces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils as opposed to body fossils, as they give evidence for the animal’s behavior (in this case, diet) rather than morphology.

British fossil hunter Mary Anning noticed as early as 1824 that “bezoar stones” were often found in the abdominal region of ichthyosaur skeletons found in the Lias formation at Lyme Regis. She also noted that if such stones were broken open they often contained fossilized fish bones and scales as well as sometimes bones from smaller ichthyosaurs.

These observations by Anning led the geologist William Buckland to propose in 1829 that the stones were fossilized feces and name them coprolites.

By examining coprolites, paleontologists are able to find information about the diet of the animal (if bones or other food remains are present), such as whether it was a herbivore or a carnivore, and the taphonomy of the coprolites, although the producer is rarely identified unambiguously, especially with more ancient examples.

In some instances, knowledge about the anatomy of animals’ digestive tracts can be helpful in assigning a coprolite to the animal that produced it, one example being the finding that the Triassic dinosauriform Silesaurus may have been an insectivore, a suggestion which was based on the beak-like jaws of the animal and the high density of beetle remains found in associated coprolites.

Further, coprolites can be analyzed for certain minerals that are known to exist in trace amounts in certain species of plant that can still be detected millions of years later. In rare cases, coprolites have even been found to contain well-preserved insect remains.

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