coprolite
nounUK /ˈkɒprəˌlaɪt/ · US /ˈkɑprəˌlaɪt/
Etymology From copro- + -lite.
1
A fossil consisting of petrified dung.
- This coprolite (the technical term for palaeo-poo) has yielded much to modern scrutiny. First, it is completely devoid of plant matter, including the corn and other plants that the Anasazi Pueblo people of the region lived on.2000 September 7, Henry Gee, “Eating people - is it bad taste?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 May 2014:
- Almost inevitably, he became the leading authority on coprolites – fossilized faeces – and had a table made entirely out of his collection of specimens.2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything:
1 more example
- Analyses of the DNA fragments preserved in the moa and kakapo coprolites showed that moa and kakapo fed on fungi.2018 April 4, Hanneke Meijer, “On fossil poo and picky eaters: a new study sheds light on New Zealand's past ecosystem”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2018:
- Derived terms
- coprolitic