Butt Drag Fossil: Elephant Relative Discovery in South Africa
Hear’s a breakdown of the provided text, focusing on the key information:
Main Topic: Fossilized urine (urolite) and its surprising prevalence, especially related to hyraxes.
Key Points:
* Urolite: The term for fossilized urine, distinct from “coprolite” (fossilized poop).
* Hyraxes: These animals seem to be the primary contributors to the world’s urolite deposits. The image shows rocks stained by hyrax droppings.
* paleontology Culture: There’s a bit of a humorous element within paleontology, wiht students jokingly referencing thier work with fossilized waste (both poop and urine) on T-shirts.
* links to Further Reading: The text includes links to articles about ancient poop and the field of ichnology (the study of fossilized traces of animal activity).
Image Description: The image shows a pile of rocks with streaks on them, which are identified as being stained by hyrax droppings. The image credit is given to Mathilde Stuart.