Information AboutCoprolite |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT COPROLITE | |
| rocks | |
| trace fossils | |
| feces | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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The name is derived from the Greek words kopros meaning "dung" and lithos meaning "stone". Coprolites are also s can provide information on the diet and health of a study subject. The recognition of coprolites is aided by their structural patterns, such as spiral or annular markings, their content, such as undigested food fragments, and also by associated fossil remains. The smallest coprolites are often difficult to distinguish from inorganic pellets or from eggs. Most coprolites are composed chiefly of calcium phosphate, along with minor quantities of organic matter. By analyzing coprolites sometimes the diet of the animal which produced them may be determined. Coprolites have been recorded in deposits ranging in age from the Cambrian period to recent times and are found worldwide. Some of them are useful as Index Fossil s, such as 'Favreina' from the Jurassic period of Haute-Savoie in France . Some marine deposits contain a high proportion of fecal remains, however, animal excrement is easily fragmented and destroyed and so usually has little chance of becoming fossilized. SEE ALSO |