A king-sized theropod coprolite

Karen Chin (), Timothy T. Tokaryk, Gregory M. Erickson and Lewis C. Calk
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Karen Chin: United States Geological Survey
Timothy T. Tokaryk: Eastend Fossil Research Station, Royal Saskatchewan Museum
Gregory M. Erickson: University of California
Lewis C. Calk: United States Geological Survey

Nature, 1998, vol. 393, issue 6686, 680-682

Abstract: Abstract Fossil faeces (coprolites) provide unique trophic perspectives on ancient ecosystems. Yet, although thousands of coprolites have been discovered, specimens that can be unequivocally attributed to carnivorous dinosaurs are almost unknown. A few fossil faeces have been ascribed to herbivorous dinosaurs1,2,3, but it is more difficult to identify coprolites produced by theropods because other carnivorous taxa coexisted with dinosaurs and most faeces are taxonomically ambiguous. Thus sizeable (up to 20 cm long and 10 cm wide) phosphatic coprolites from Belgium4 and India5,6 that have been attributed to dinosaurs might have been produced by contemporaneous crocodylians7 or fish. But there is no ambiguity about the theropod origin of the Cretaceous coprolite we report here. This specimen is more than twice as large as any previously reported carnivore coprolite, and its great size and temporal and geographic context indicate that it was produced by a tyrannosaur, most likely Tyrannosaurus rex. The specimen contains a high proportion (30–50%) of bone fragments, and is rare tangible evidence of theropod diet and digestive processes.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/31461

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