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Coprolite Identification


GeschWhat

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  • 7 months later...

This was ID’d as a coprolite. Marine, Cretaceous, has small flecks of what looks like fish scale through it.

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"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe" - Saint Augustine

"Those who can not see past their own nose deserve our pity more than anything else."

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  • 7 months later...

@GeschWhat, is this coprolite?

IMG_2874.thumb.JPG.3bf43eb586231e27e90f88d66e3b6604.JPG

If yes, would you need to break it to get more information about what kind of animal made it?

 

Thanks!

Edited by Seaspawn
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Hi,

 

@GeschWhat

 

Coco

----------------------
OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici

Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici
Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici
Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici
Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici
Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici
Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici

Un Greg...

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Es poo?

 

Caddo Mills/Royse City area. I stopped picking them up due to abundance. 

 

Thanks for the info. 

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Edited by BluesharkRay
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On 1/15/2021 at 7:16 AM, Seaspawn said:

@GeschWhat, is this coprolite?

IMG_2874.thumb.JPG.3bf43eb586231e27e90f88d66e3b6604.JPG

If yes, would you need to break it to get more information about what kind of animal made it?

Thanks!

A lot depends on where this was found. Do you know the formation? Since you are in the UK, I'm guessing London Clay? If so, it could be a coprolite - possibly crocodilian? You could break it or cut it, but if it is from a croc, you wont find anything in it. 

 

EDIT: I should also mention that it is hard to identify the producers of coprolites. If lucky, we can identify what was eaten. If they have a spiral shape, they could be from a fish with a spiral valve (sharks, rays, skates, plus a few others). If they lack inclusions, they could be from crocs. 

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16 hours ago, BluesharkRay said:

Es poo?

 

Caddo Mills/Royse City area. I stopped picking them up due to abundance. 

 

Thanks for the info. 

20210118_233055.jpg

Hmm, not familiar with that area. Could be part of the Eagle Ford Group, perhaps.  There can be concretions and coprolite in that formation. Coprolites that I have seen from that area usually have a lot of fish bone inclusions. I've never collected there myself. I do know that one area that was excavated in Lewisville exposed primarily coprolites with only a handful of other fossils present. However they didn't look anything like what you have there. If what you are finding all has a similar shape and they are from the Eagle Ford Group, I'm guessing these are concretions. Have you posted them on the Fossil ID thread?

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Sorry for the late reply to this, unexpectedly busy.

I found it on a shingle beach hereabouts:

fossillocation.png.b915801dabca23b75b261a306f2e7851.png

 

It's fascinating info, though. Thanks so much for your input, I appreciate it.

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Thanks for responding, sorry for my delay in seeing it. This was my only post about it but it had just dawned on me that these things could be dung a month or so ago. Kicking myself for not grabbing more. I do, however, know where there's more, and other fossils. There's something here to be considered for research. I'd love to have someone take a look if there's interest or value in it. Trade off is that person, needs to confirm several of the pieces I was lucky to find as authentic and deliver that message directly to my wife.;)

 

I definitely started picking up less rocks as time passed. Here's what I grabbed in about 8-10 fossil "hunts". There's a large collection of various concretions and other larger potential fossils that sleep outside hidden as decor in the back yard area. Of note, and something  I am sure others are aware of but these things change fast with time and environment but with all the cold weather it's been fun hearing the occasional pop or crack and watching them break away.... fascinating. 

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  • 2 months later...

My fossil hunting is very unprofessional (because I am a youth member in life too). After I read your post I thought about it and I never really think about coprolites in my fossil hunts, now I will learn a little more about the animals that lived where I go hunting and pay more attention to coprolites.

thank you very much for this post, very helpful.

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1 hour ago, Daniel Fischer said:

My fossil hunting is very unprofessional (because I am a youth member in life too). After I read your post I thought about it and I never really think about coprolites in my fossil hunts, now I will learn a little more about the animals that lived where I go hunting and pay more attention to coprolites.

thank you very much for this post, very helpful.

In my humble opinion, coprolites are the best fossils to collect. The best part is you can hunt for fossils inside your fossils! I don't think I've seen coprolites from Israel. Be sure to post photos if you find some.

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  • 10 months later...

These are coprolites from the Oxford Clay (Jurassic, Callovian,  Peterborough Member). I don't know what created them, I'm guessing most likely fish. I'm never quite certain what the inclusions are - they are from a bed that preserves scales, bone and chitin. Some of them look like scales or hooks to me. Some of the ones I like the most are those that break open as I extract them.

 

Is it possible to dissect them, and what is the best method?

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Edited by Ossicle
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These are from a slightly different site, so I think a different bed of the Peterborough Member, still the Oxford Clay but with different preservation. They appear to be coprolites, but are the biggest I've found, and two appear to be pinched at one end, and slightly folded. Does this give any indication of what might have made them?

 

The black speckles are a feature of this site, and I think are to do with pyrite.

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Edited by Ossicle
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These two are my oddest two, with a lot of undigested material. The one has a very strange dark pattern on the back, and an interesting pattern on the front which is the same colour as some fish remains on this site.

 

The second I think has a lot bony material, and I think a small bone sticking out.

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@GeschWhat sorry for posting so many, I've had coprolites in my collection for a few years, but have only just had a chance to closely examine them and realise how amazing they are.

 

I collected three more possible coprolites yesterday - one was a definite, but the other two I'm really not sure.

 

This first is the right shape and has a prominent inclusion, but is a different colour than the others I've collected.

 

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The second might be a conglomerate - it's the right colour, but wrong shape and the inclusions look wrong.

 

These are both from the Oxford Clay, Peterborough Member,  Jurassic,  Callovian.

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  • 8 months later...

Hi, i wondered if this could be a fish coprolite. It comes from the Oxfordian of the Vaches Noires in France.

The squares are half a centimeter.

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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

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1 hour ago, fifbrindacier said:

Hi, i wondered if this could be a fish coprolite. It comes from the Oxfordian of the Vaches Noires in France.

The squares are half a centimeter.

IMG_20221106_130201.thumb.jpg.0944b6ad520987e0ca75af0b7ba36160.jpgIMG_20221106_125612.thumb.jpg.c6231f5b20e4b176b06c3515e0ef1eb5.jpgIMG_20221106_125634.thumb.jpg.bfa4055515af1e560b13772ec71334f5.jpgIMG_20221106_125841.thumb.jpg.5d29253b81659b2df1aa9b23c304afea.jpg

Hi Sophie! This is a tough one. First, is it pyritized? If so, maybe. If not, does it feel gritty? If so, then I think it’s probably a burrow. If not, it could be,

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27 minutes ago, GeschWhat said:

Hi Sophie! This is a tough one. First, is it pyritized? If so, maybe. If not, does it feel gritty? If so, then I think it’s probably a burrow. If not, it could be,

Hi Lori, it's neither pyritized nor gritty.:)

It sticks only very little on the tongue.

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"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

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Hi, i also found that and wondered if it could be the result of a digestion process.

Thé stone on which it is is smooth and about 12 cm wide.

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Here is the other side.

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theme-celtique.png.bbc4d5765974b5daba0607d157eecfed.png.7c09081f292875c94595c562a862958c.png

"On ne voit bien que par le coeur, l'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

"We only well see with the heart, the essential is invisible for the eyes."

 

In memory of Doren

photo-thumb-12286.jpg.878620deab804c0e4e53f3eab4625b4c.jpg

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These types of pieces are offered on the Internet as dinosaur coprolite. Is it really dinosaur coprolite, or another animal?

They say they come from China,

Best regards 

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Edited by Josesaurus rex
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  • 4 months later...

@GeschWhat

I think I remember you posting that there isn't any evidence the "agatized coprolites" from the Morrison formation popular online are true coprolites. Just wanted to confirm because I can't find that previous post.

 

 

Found this: https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/13075050/_Barling_2018_PhD_Thesis.pdf

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Edited by JBkansas
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On 11/16/2022 at 1:55 PM, Josesaurus rex said:

These types of pieces are offered on the Internet as dinosaur coprolite. Is it really dinosaur coprolite, or another animal?

They say they come from China,

Best regards 

Screenshot_20221116_164333_com.ebay.mobile.jpg

Screenshot_20221116_164319_com.ebay.mobile.jpg

Screenshot_20221116_164314_com.ebay.mobile.jpg

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Here's a thread suggesting they're turtles from Madagascar: 

 

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