Earth Magazine (formerly GeoTimes) has an article on coprolites (fossilized dung): It’s a Dirty Job, But Someone’s Gotta Do It. The article goes into a little history of coprolitology (my word), how to tell if a rock is a petrified turd, and how to tell “who dung it.”

Image: a foot-long carniverous dinosaur coprolite from the Mesozoic of Saskatchewan, USGS (from Wikipedia – Coprolite).

Coprolite trivia: The intramural softball teams of the Washington State University geology department proudly have “Coprolites” as their team name (or at least they did back in the 1980s when I attended there).

Grace and Peace