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coprolite

American  
[kop-ruh-lahyt] / ˈkɒp rəˌlaɪt /

noun

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


coprolite British  
/ ˈkɒprəˌlaɪt /

noun

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

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.


Other Word Forms


Etymology

Origin of coprolite

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


Vocabulary lists containing coprolite

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Inside the coprolite, scientists identified several feathers, tiny scales from a gar fish, and leg bones belonging to a hesperornithiform bird.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026

Among the fossilised finds, is "Barnum", the largest coprolite found that belongs to a carnivore, which measures at 67.5cm.

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

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 Sir Charles Lyell

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