Coprolite, Isle of Wight

[Joe De]

Hi there, researching on behalf of my son. We found this on a beach at the Isle of Wight and wondered if it is Coprolite? and if so, any ideas what dinosaur might have made it. It's not dissimilar in shape and size to sheep poo. Thanks for your help

 

[Vieira]

It looks like a iron concretion to me.

 

Wait for more opinions.

[ynot]

Welcome to TFF!

Looks like a concretion to Me.

But I am not a coprolite kinda person.

Maybe @GeschWhat or @Carl will have an idea.

[jpc]

Yeah,looks concretionary to me.  Also you it is really sketchy to try to ID what animal made a certain poop.  As for dinosaur, it would have to have been found on the south shore of IOW, as the north shore is generally Eocene...post-dinosaur.  

[Fossildude19]

Another vote for Ironstone concretion.  

Regards,

[GeschWhat]

WELCOME TO THE FORUM!

 

It is really tough to say for sure  where or not this is a coprolite, because the coprolites from that area do have a high iron content. Many look very much like what you have there. The only way to tell for sure is if you find a bone or scale inclusion, which many do not have. You may want to gently clean off the matrix in the crevices. I sometimes find bits of bone exposed in those areas. 

 

As JPC said, it is almost impossible to tell what creature produced what coprolites. The size of the coprolite can tell you a little bit about the size of the animal that produced it in that small animals can't produce big feces. However, big animals can produce small feces. If find inclusions, you learn something about their diet.

 

So is this a coprolite? Maybe. Tell you son he has a good eye, and to keep looking for those coprolites!

 

EDIT: One more thing. If this is a coprolite, it is most likely from a carnivore.

Edited March 3, 2017 by GeschWhat

[Joe De]

Thanks for your help people. We hoped it was coprolite, as studying it, it very much has one flat edge where in might have dropped from a small height. It was indeed from the south shore.

Until his next find, we'll count this as a definitely maybe. 

[Carl]

I'm with Lori. Could be, but it's not convincing enough to say definitively. I vote no.