Coprolites from the upper Osawa Formation (upper Spathian), northeastern Japan: Evidence for predation in a marine ecosystem 5 Myr after the end-Permian mass extinction
Description:
Herein, the authors recently found dark, amorphous lumps of various sizes, ranging from a few millimetres to approximately 7 cm in maximum dimension, from the offshore marine deposit of upper Osawa Formation (Spathian, Lower Triassic) in the South Kitakami Terrane of northeast Japan. Compared with the surrounding siliciclastic sediments, the lumps are rich in phosphate and organic carbon, and poor in silicates. Shape, mode of occurrence, bone inclusion and geochemical signatures of these lumps confirm that these are coprolites, produced not by benthic sediment feeders, but most likely by nektonic animals. [Source: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]
