coprolite

American  

[kop-ruh-lahyt] / ˈkɒp rəˌlaɪt /

noun

1. a stony mass consisting of fossilized fecal matter of animals.

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coprolite British  

/ ˈkɒprəˌlaɪt, ˌkɒprəˈlɪtɪk /

noun

1. any of various rounded stony nodules thought to be the fossilized faeces of Palaeozic-Cenozoic vertebrates

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coprolite Scientific  

/ kŏp′rə-līt′ /

1. Fossilized excrement. Analysis of the fossilized animal and plant remains within coprolites provides important information about the diet and environment of ancient biota.

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Other Word Forms

• coprolitic adjective

Etymology

Origin of coprolite

First recorded in 1820–30; copro- + -lite

Example Sentences

Mr Frandsen's foray into coprolite hunting arose after he first saw one as a teenager in a rock and fossil shop in Utah, having already been fascinated by fossils as a child.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2024

By rotating the coprolite in the beam, they created 3D reconstructions of the coprolite’s contents.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 30, 2021

Qvarnström and his colleagues uncovered a particular dime-size coprolite in a clay pit near Ozimek, Poland.

From Scientific American • Jun. 30, 2021

That preserved poop — technically termed a coprolite — could be the lumpy rock I am now holding in my hand.

From Washington Post • Jun. 16, 2018

The so-called coprolite bed, found near Farnham, in Surrey, and near Cambridge, contains nodules of phosphate of lime in such abundance as to be largely worked for the manufacture of artificial manure.

From The Student's Elements of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir