Ugh! Fossil Poop with Impression of Foot Print.

I would have hardly thought that the swished dog poop on the sidewalk could somehow be preserved in the fossil record; complete with the imprint of someone's shoe, but that is exactly what happened to several fossil poop specimens (coprolites) from the Miocene of Lisbon. Miguel Telles Antunes and colleagues present not just one example of this event occurring, but several. The likely producer of the poop, Anchitherium, an ancient horse, also was the "victim" of a misguided step. Another specimen however, was likely produced by Brachyodus, but stepped on by the ancient deer, Procervulus.

Antunes, M.T., Balbino, A.C., and Ginsburg, L. 2006. Miocene Mammalian footprints in coprolites from Lisbon, Portugal, Annales de Paléontologie, In Press, Corrected Proof, , Available online 2 March 2006.