Ever thought poop could be cooler than a T-Rex? 🦖 A new Aussie-led study published in Geobiology dives into 300-million-year-old coprolites—fossil feces—from the famous Mazon Creek site in the U.S.
Turns out, these stinky time capsules aren’t just gross—they’re gold mines of information. Researchers discovered that tiny grains of iron carbonate scattered throughout the fossils acted like microscopic time capsules, preserving delicate molecular traces. This is wild because soft tissues usually need phosphate minerals to survive fossilization.
“Fossils don’t just preserve the shapes of long-extinct creatures; they can also hold chemical traces of life,” says Madison Tripp at Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences. She compares phosphate to a treasure chest, but says, “the real gold is stashed in the pebbles nearby.”
Why does this matter? By knowing which minerals lock down these biomolecules, scientists can better target fossil digs and piece together ancient diets, ecosystems, and even decomposition processes. It’s like getting a molecular selfie of prehistoric worlds! 📸
Professor Kliti Grice, also from Curtin University, added that expanding this research across species, environments, and eras shows consistent patterns of mineral-molecule preservation. “Carbonate minerals have been quietly preserving biological information throughout Earth’s history,” she notes.
Next time you hear about fossil studies, remember: sometimes the real story hides in the muck. And who knew poop could help us time-travel? ⏳💩
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
