Fossil Poo
Created | Updated Oct 20, 2010
Faeces, plop, poo, number two, excrement, defecation, crap and, of course, s**t. All splendidly evocative words describing a substance that we deal with on a daily basis, but pretend we don't. But why be so coy, when faeces are like little signatures that we make on the world. Even now animals crap in the woods, leaving little life history clues for palaeontologists of the future.
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The study of fossil poo has brought the feeding habits and motions of the past into clear prehistoric focus. Yes the plop of dinosaurs, giant ground sloths, and Neanderthals has all passed into history. Coprolites, or rock-hard fossil number-two, isn't simply the result of a dry curry or too few prunes, it's the result of preservation and mineral replacement. Fossilisation is rare event - consider it unlikely that even a single motion in your entire life will be preserved as posterior posterity.
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Locked in these mineral nuggets are clues to the feeding strategies and diets of animals long gone. Dino droppings have revealed herbivorous heaves, packed with chewed fossil leaf material and tell-tale pollen. Through these incredible insights we can digest and follow through investigations to reveal a very detailed picture of what plants were on the menu. Fossil dung from predators tell a different tale - packed with bone fragments, the colonic rumblings of a T.rex were apparently like a pulverising mill.
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These feats of reptilian rumination are all older than 65 million years old. More recent fossil poo, such as those younger than 100,000 years old, can still harbour traces of DNA and can give an even better idea of a creatures diet. A Bristol scientist examined a 19,000 year-old 'giant ground sloth' crap to reveal seven kinds of plant DNA, including capers, lilies, mints and grapes. Which just goes to show you that faeces isn't just a load of crap.
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More info on fossil dung can be found in past issues of Nature and Science magazines.<BR/>
<BR/>
<BR/><BR/>
The study of fossil poo has brought the feeding habits and motions of the past into clear prehistoric focus. Yes the plop of dinosaurs, giant ground sloths, and Neanderthals has all passed into history. Coprolites, or rock-hard fossil number-two, isn't simply the result of a dry curry or too few prunes, it's the result of preservation and mineral replacement. Fossilisation is rare event - consider it unlikely that even a single motion in your entire life will be preserved as posterior posterity.
<BR/><BR/>
Locked in these mineral nuggets are clues to the feeding strategies and diets of animals long gone. Dino droppings have revealed herbivorous heaves, packed with chewed fossil leaf material and tell-tale pollen. Through these incredible insights we can digest and follow through investigations to reveal a very detailed picture of what plants were on the menu. Fossil dung from predators tell a different tale - packed with bone fragments, the colonic rumblings of a T.rex were apparently like a pulverising mill.
<BR/><BR/>
These feats of reptilian rumination are all older than 65 million years old. More recent fossil poo, such as those younger than 100,000 years old, can still harbour traces of DNA and can give an even better idea of a creatures diet. A Bristol scientist examined a 19,000 year-old 'giant ground sloth' crap to reveal seven kinds of plant DNA, including capers, lilies, mints and grapes. Which just goes to show you that faeces isn't just a load of crap.
<BR/>
<BR/>
More info on fossil dung can be found in past issues of Nature and Science magazines.<BR/>
<BR/>
