Editing Coprolite (section)

==Research value==

By examining coprolites, [[Paleontology|paleontologists]] are able to find information about the diet of the animal (if bones or other food remains are present), such as whether it was a [[herbivore]] or a [[carnivore]], and the [[taphonomy]] of the coprolites, although the producer is rarely identified unambiguously,<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Borry M, Cordova B, Perri A, Wibowo M, Prasad Honap T, Ko J, Yu J, Britton K, Girdland-Flink L, Power RC, Stuijts I, Salazar-García DC, Hofman C, Hagan R, Samdapawindé Kagoné T, Meda N, Carabin H, Jacobson D, Reinhard K, Lewis C, Kostic A, Jeong C, Herbig A, Hübner A, Warinner C | display-authors = 6 | title = CoproID predicts the source of coprolites and paleofeces using microbiome composition and host DNA content | journal = PeerJ | volume = 8 | pages = e9001 | date = 2020-04-17 | pmid = 32337106 | pmc = 7169968 | doi = 10.7717/peerj.9001 | doi-access = free }}</ref> especially with more ancient examples.<ref>{{Cite web | url = http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/002546.html | title=The Wonders of Dinosaur Dung|publisher=Sepia Mutiny|author=Abhi|date=18 November 2005}}</ref> In some instances, knowledge about the anatomy of animals' digestive tracts can be helpful in assigning a coprolite to the animal that produced it, one example being the finding that the [[Triassic]] [[Dinosauriformes|dinosauriform]] ''[[Silesaurus]]'' may have been an insectivore, a suggestion which was based on the beak-like jaws of the animal and the high density of beetle remains found in associated coprolites.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Qvarnström M, Wernström JV, Piechowski R, Tałanda M, Ahlberg PE, Niedźwiedzki G | title = Beetle-bearing coprolites possibly reveal the diet of a Late Triassic dinosauriform | journal = Royal Society Open Science | volume = 6 | issue = 3 | pages = 181042 | date = March 2019 | pmid = 31031991 | pmc = 6458417 | doi = 10.1098/rsos.181042 | bibcode = 2019RSOS....681042Q }}</ref> Further, coprolites can be analyzed for certain minerals that are known to exist in trace amounts in certain species of plant that can still be detected millions of years later.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1118_051118_grass_dinos.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051124053238/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1118_051118_grass_dinos.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = November 24, 2005 |title=Dung Fossils Suggest Dinosaurs Ate Grass | first = Nicholas | last = Bakalar | name-list-style = vanc |publisher=National Geographic News|date=18 November 2005}}</ref> In rare cases, coprolites have even been found to contain well-preserved insect remains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Qvarnström |first1=Martin |last2=Fikáček |first2=Martin |last3=Vikberg Wernström |first3=Joel |last4=Huld |first4=Sigrid |last5=Beutel |first5=Rolf G. |last6=Arriaga-Varela |first6=Emmanuel |last7=Ahlberg |first7=Per E. |last8=Niedźwiedzki |first8=Grzegorz |date=2021-08-09 |title=Exceptionally preserved beetles in a Triassic coprolite of putative dinosauriform origin |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=31 |issue=15 |pages=3374–3381.e5 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2021.05.015 |pmid=34197727 |s2cid=235691750 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |bibcode=2021CBio...31E3374Q }}</ref> There is also a documented case of a coprolite containing an [[Trace fossil|ichnofossil]] in the form of footprints of a [[Crocodilia|crocodilian]], created when a crocodilian stepped on the faecal matter before it became fossilised.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halaclar |first=Kazim |last2=Rummy |first2=Paul |last3=Deng |first3=Tao |last4=Do |first4=Truong Van |date=December 2022 |title=Footprint on a coprolite: A rarity from the Eocene of Vietnam |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1871174X22000105 |journal=[[Palaeoworld]] |language=en |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=723–732 |doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2022.01.010 |access-date=31 October 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct|url-access=subscription }}</ref>