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Showing results for tags 'mammal coprolite'.
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I have had a bunch of broken bits of Oligocene mammal coprolites sitting in a cup for years. I got them before I had a proper microscope. I decided to pick through another one last night. This one had what I thought could be a rodent incisor. So I started excavating with my X-acto blade. As I uncovered the bone, I realized it was not a tooth. I started noticing these very fine crescent shaped objects (which I unfortunately did not photograph). So I decided to give the poo a little vinegar bath overnight. As I lightly removed an unremarkable bit of fossilized fecal mass this morning, it split away revealing what might be a feather. I wet a bit of downy feather and photographed it for comparison. What do you all think? @Carl, didn't you have a coprolite with a feather inclusion? If so, did it look like this? The bone that I exposed is very furrowed and hollow. Of course this may not mean anything other than it is partially digested. Could it be a bird bone? @Auspex Here is the before and after photo of the coprolite fragment. Here is a magnified image of the a wet modern feather and the possible undigested feather.