{"id":288390,"date":"2021-07-01T00:15:24","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T21:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/fossilized-feces-from-dinosaur-relative-yields-new-beetle-species\/"},"modified":"2021-07-01T00:15:24","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T21:15:24","slug":"fossilized-feces-from-dinosaur-relative-yields-new-beetle-species","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/fossilized-feces-from-dinosaur-relative-yields-new-beetle-species\/","title":{"rendered":"#Fossilized feces from dinosaur relative yields new beetle species"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Fossilized feces from dinosaur relative yields new beetle species<\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

\n

Feces may actually be the key to the past.<\/p>\n

In fossilized dung, scientists have uncovered complete specimens of a new species of beetle.<\/p>\n

The beetle\u00a0Triamyxa coprolithica was discovered in a sample of fossilized dung dating back to the Triassic period. The dung sample was likely produced by the dinosaur relative Silesaurus opolensis, which lived between 237 million and 227 million years ago.<\/p>\n

Publishing their findings<\/a> Wednesday in the journal\u00a0Current Biology, researchers suggest that fossilized dung could contain more details about past life than originally thought.<\/p>\n

The old poop \u2014 technically named coprolite \u2014can, for example, offer a look into the diets of extinct creatures that body fossils simply cannot.<\/p>\n

Evolutionary biologist Martin Qvarnstr\u00f6m of Uppsala University in Sweden, who co-wrote the study, told Science News<\/a> that specimens of ancient feces have been \u201clargely overlooked,\u201d but \u201ccontain very well-preserved fossils. They\u2019re like hidden treasure chests.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\u2018They\u2019re like hidden treasure chests.\u2019<\/p>\n

Evolutionary biologist Martin Qvarnstr\u00f6m on fossilized dung samples<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

Qvarnstr\u00f6m and colleagues used a synchrotron, which creates powerful X-rays to analyze a coprolite, from Poland. The team was curious if the older fossilized poop could match the fossil quality of amber specimens.<\/p>\n

The synchrotron scan revealed whole beetle fossils and some fragments of the same species. The fossilized exoskeletons lacked the joints needed to classify them, yet the researchers reconstructed many of these features by putting together beetle fragments. The scientists were able to classify the new species as the entirely new family Triamyxidae.<\/p>\n

In the paper<\/a>, the researchers suggested that Triamyxa had a higher chance of surviving digestion than other insects due to its small size. The high number of\u00a0Triamyxa\u00a0suggests that it was very abundant where the coprolite producer was foraging.<\/p>\n

According to paleontologist Karen Chin of the University of Colorado in Boulder \u2014 who was not involved in the study \u2014 feces can very quickly form into coprolites. This is because it often contains raw materials and bacteria necessary for mineralization, which can take just weeks.<\/p>\n

Qvarnstr\u00f6m and his team wrote that the study further highlights the potential of fossilized feces as an environment for preservation. Since the beetles were so heavily concentrated in the sample, and because they were well preserved in an environment with poor preservation potential, the researchers posit that coprolites may be the key to further archaeological discoveries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis dinosaur ancestor was doing a bit of the fieldwork for us,\u201d said Qvarnstr\u00f6m. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have been able to find these insects otherwise.\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

If you want to read more News<\/a> articles, you can visit our News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Fossilized feces from dinosaur relative yields new beetle species” Feces may actually be the key to the past. In fossilized dung, scientists have uncovered complete specimens of a new species of beetle. The beetle\u00a0Triamyxa coprolithica was discovered in a sample of fossilized dung dating back to the Triassic period. The dung sample was likely produced…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":288391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/fossilized-dung-001.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[110714,4854,81964,71553,9724],"class_list":["post-288390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-30-21","tag-dinosaurs","tag-fossils","tag-poop","tag-study-says"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}