Technology Industry
Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedWhat the dinosaurs left behind - paleontologist Karen Chin examines fossil dinosaur feces to better understand ecology of their times - Brief Article
Science News, Sept 21, 1996
When most paleontologists visit the Two Medicine Formation in Montana, they keep their eyes open for the bones of herbivorous dinosaurs, which populated this region 75 million years ago. Karen Chin, however, has something less glamorous on her mind. The graduate student from the University of California, Santa Barbara seeks the fossils of the feces excreted by those plant-munching behemoths of the Cretaceous period. From her studies of the rock-solid scat, Chin has managed to paint a detailed picture of the ancient ecology that connected dinosaurs and insects in a tight food web. She and her colleague Bruce D. Gill of Agriculture Canada in Ottawa report on their work in the recently issued June Palaios.
Most RecentTechnology Articles
- Sirius Earnings Improvements Don't Help Customer Retention, Other Problems
- Google Already Making Microsoft Mistakes It Wants To Avoid
- Skype Saga Turns Out To Be Clever Negotiation
- Jobs CEO of Decade Says Fortune: Give Me a Break
- Microsoft Announces More Layoffs as October Tech Job Cuts Take Huge Leap
- More »
Most studies of fossilized dinosaur feces, or coprolites, have focused on the easily recognizable, torpedo-shaped droppings from carnivorous and omnivorous species. In contrast, Chin and Gill reported the discovery of coprolites from herbivorous dinosaurs. Ranging in size from small cobblestones to basketballs, these blocks contain broken-up pieces of conifers. Tunnels running through the coprolites record the activity of beetles that scavenged the dinosaur dung, suggest the researchers. If their interpretation is correct, these burrows would represent the earliest known evidence of dung consumption by beetles. This discovery would overturn previous speculation that dung-eating beetles evolved alongside the large mammalian herbivores, long after the extinction of the dinosaurs, suggest Chin and Gill.
CXO UnpluggedSmart Business interviews on BNET
Brought to you by CBS MoneyWatch.com
- Best- and Worst-Paid College Degrees
- 6 Things You Should Never Do on Twitter or Facebook
- How Much Sleep Do You Really Need?
- 6 Big Myths about Gas Mileage
Most Recent Reference Articles
- ARAB EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Dec 22 - Russia Denies Selling Missile System To Iran
- EGYPT - Dec 29 - Opposition Says Mubarak Blessed Israeli Attacks
- ARAB AFFAIRS - Dec 22 - Syria Will Eventually Move To Direct Talks With Israel
- ARAB AFFAIRS - Dec 30 - GCC Denounces Massacre
- ARAB ISRAELI RELATIONS - Israel Issues An Appeal To Palestinians In Gaza
Most Recent Reference Publications
Most Popular Reference Articles
- How Tyler Perry rose from homelessness to a $5 million mansion
- 9 questions to ask your new lover: what you were afraid to ask, but always wanted to know
- Free Sex Change? Move To Idaho - Brief Article
- Vickie Winans: at home with the gospel star who lost 75 pounds and reenergized her career
- BEST HAIR SALONS in DALLAS, The




