Coprolite Fossil Feces Dinosaur Excrement Dung Prehistoric Reptile Cretaeous Collection (6)

Description

Origin : Madagascar (Mahajunga)

Geological era : Late Cretaceous

Age : 70 million of years

Size : 39.8 gr - mm 73 x 25 x 20

Coprolite Coprolith Fossil Reptile Dinosaur mm 73 x 25 x 20 - 39.8 gr Feces Excrement Petrified Dung Fecal Cord or Pellet Fossilized Trace Extinct Animals Mesozoic Cretaceous Collecting Paleontology Museum, only a piece, as in photo.

The term Coprolite o Coprolith comes from the union of Greek words 'kopros', dung, and 'lithos', stone; it was used for the first time by William Buckland in 1829. 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.
Usually, the coprolite term refers to all fossil excretions that can reach remarkable size, as in the case of a coprolite of a Tyrannosaurus rex (it weighs 7 pounds and was discovered in Saskatchewan, Canada, in the Frenchman Formation near Eastend town, by researchers of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum); other times they are very small and attributable to invertebrates. In this case, they are also referred to as faecal cords or faecal pellets and they may be most of the sediment, especially in low energy marine environments such as retrocliff.
According to another interpretation, the coprolite term should only be used for vertebrate excretions; these fossils often have oval shape more or less elongated or cylindrical, round, spiral or cone and streaks that reproduce the morphology of the last intestinal tract. Inside, there are still identifiable plant and animal remains that provide information on the diet of those who have produced excretions or even intestinal parasites.
Coproliths have been found throughout the world in deposits ranging from the Ordovician period to the present time.