1y ago

At Fossil Butte National Monument, in Wyoming, restrooms are decorated with coprolites, which is prehistoric fossilized poop from 52 million years ago, found in the area.

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- Fossil your shit first, they give you a cool lab coat.
- So, when they decorate the walls with shit, it’s acceptable. When I do it, they ~~put me in my straight jacket.~~
  ...throw me out of the Capital Building!
While entertaining a potential partner: "And here is my poop wall."
- The first time my wife (girlfriend at the time) went to my parents house my dad showed her his coprolite collection. That was over 20 years ago and she is still with me. So from my scientifically significant sample size of one, I can confirm that it indeed works.
Briefly, can someone explain how one forms? Why don't they just biodegrade?
- Most fossils happen when something gets covered by soil or sand or whatever before it's had a chance to decompose. Over eons, the organic material gradually transforms into stone, but it retain it's shape.
  
  I understand how fossils work, but I assumed that scat would be more likely to break down compared with flesh and bone. If you see scat in the woods it's usually gone by the next day. otoh, if it were placed before a massive dust cloud landed, I guess that the lack of oxygen would slow the process.
Looks like it was the designated shitting street 52 million years ago.
Thats a lot of poop!!
Shitty thing to do, really.

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