COPROLITE

the fossilized excrement of animals. The discovery of the true nature of this material was made by the English geologist William Buckland, who observed that certain convoluted bodies occurring in the Lias (rock strata of Early Jurassic age, 187 to 208 million years old) of Gloucestershire had a form that would have been produced by their passage in the soft state through the intestines of reptiles or fishes. These bodies had long been known as fossil fir cones and bezoar stones. Buckland's conjecture that they were of fecal origin and similar to the excrement of hyenas was confirmed on analysis; they were found to consist essentially of calcium phosphate and carbonate and not infrequently contained fragments of unaltered bone. The name coprolites (from Greek kopros, dung; and lithos, stone) was accordingly given them by Buckland.