Watch your step!

       As far back as I can remember my family has had a dog. And with a dog there comes the do-do. One of the earlist things I remember my mother telling me was to "Watch your step" in an effort to prevent me from walking on one of the land mines. Sometimes it didn't help and I was handed a bucket of water and a brush to clean moms kitchen floor. Do-do happens! Which brings me to my report. Every living thing Do-do's. Most of the time this item is flushed, burried, or decays and mom's kitchen floor remains clean. But sometimes they become fossilized under the right conditions. These ancient animal do-do's can give us a good insite into an animals life and diet when they contain bone, plant, impressions, etc. Most herbivor feces are consumed by other animals and are rarely found. Meat eaters are the main source of fossil feces which are called coprolites. I've collected thousands of these coprolites over the years but was recently suprised at the size of some of them washing onto the local beaches. They're from "Very" big Miocene crocodiles. Some have been X-rayed and have revealed feathers inside. During a recent beach walk I found a large coprolite. It had been turned over recently. Probably by a fossil collector looking for shark teeth. I guess they probably grew up in the city and never had a dog.

Lucky me!