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I have two Triassic coprolites from the Bull Canyon Formation, Quay County, NM. The first one has an impression/imprint that I have not been able to identify. The second has a protrusion sticking out of it. I had hoped that by prepping out the the protrusion, I would get lucky and it would match up with the marks on the other. Unfortunately, I now have two things that I can't identify. @Carl

 

1. Is there anyone out there that wants to take a stab at identifying the imprint in this one? It does appear that there are some remnants (white) of whatever it was that made the marks. 

Coprolite-Impression-Bull-Canyon-Formation-NM-40X.jpg

Coprolite-Impression-Bull-Canyon-Formation-NM-Top.jpg

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2. At first I thought vertebra, but I don't know of any that are convex like this. My best guess on this one is some sort of crushing tooth. There is no enamel, but that could be the result of digestion. However, I have never seen that type of tooth without enamel. Any thoughts?

 

Thanks for taking a look!

Coprolite-Protrusion-Bull-Canyon-Formation-NM-Top-Before.jpg

Coprolite-Protrusion-Bull-Canyon-Formation-NM-40X-Side1.jpg

Coprolite-Protrusion-Bull-Canyon-Formation-NM-20X-Side1a.jpg

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Both look like they might be molars to me, but I'm so far outside any sphere of knowledge I have, it's not an informed guess. I'm not even sure molars would be the right shape. And if it is teeth there should surely be a series of toothy impressions, unless it was a very dentally challenged animal. They're amazing fossils.

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I was thinking molar at first too. I did post this to the ichnology group on Facebook. Someone there suggested pupal chambers as a possibility, so I've been looking into that more. This one may just stay a mystery. I got these from a guy who has three separate properties with Bull Canyon exposures. He has never seen teeth that would match up with either of these. I may just try to exposing the enamel surface of croc teeth to sulfuric acid to see if they look similar once the enamel is gone.

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