francene--blog. Year 2013
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Nov 29th

11/29/2013

 
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A gigantic communal latrine created at the dawn of the dinosaurs has been unearthed in Argentina. A study in Scientific Reports tells of thousands of fossilized poos left by rhino-like megaherbivores were found clustered together. The dung contains clues to prehistoric diet, disease and vegetation.

The 240-million-year-old site is the world's oldest public toilet and the first evidence that ancient reptiles shared collective dumping grounds.

Here's something I didn't know: Nowadays, elephants, antelopes and horses defecate in socially agreed hotspots to mark territory and reduce the spread of parasites. The hoses in the field outside my window poo wherever they stand. Perhaps domesticated animals have given up the tendency to choose where they defecate in exchange for board and lodgings.

But the herd animals' best efforts are dwarfed by the enormous scale of this latrine - which breaks the previous record oldest toilet by 220 million years. Piles of fossil dung, some as wide as 40cm and weighing several kilograms, were found in seven massive patches across the Chanares Formation in La Rioja province. Apparently, fine ash covered the site and preserved the remains.


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The animal behind the action was Dinodontosaurus, an eight-foot-long megaherbivore similar to modern rhinos. These animals were dicynodonts - large, mammal-like reptiles common in the Triassic period when the first dinosaurs began to emerge. The dicynodont skull is highly specialized, light but strong, which would have enabled dicynodonts to cope with tough plant material.

The shared latrine strategy suggests they were gregarious, herd animals, who had good reasons to poo strategically.  Firstly, it was important to avoid parasites. 'You don't poo where you eat', as the saying goes. But the huge pile also warns predators about the size of the herd.

What would aliens think of our sewers? Sometimes, I wonder if mankind will run out of space for all their cast-offs.


Adam Dorfman link
11/28/2013 07:38:01 pm

very interesting and nice to see teamwork was alive and well 240 million years ago

Francene Stanley link
11/30/2013 10:55:12 pm

I'm glad you pointed that out. You're so right about team work. So--it began so long ago.

Janeane Davis link
11/28/2013 10:24:09 pm

Thanks for giving me a discussion topic for my family. We have a debate about the existence of dinosaurs and this will add fuel to our debates.

Francene Stanley link
11/30/2013 10:56:17 pm

Hehe. Dinosaurs existed becaus we can prove it by the piles of dung. That'd be a great debate.

Alana link
11/29/2013 12:18:40 am

Nver knew this - a quick Internet search revealed that, today, wildebeest have much the same pee/poo habits. In Harry Turtledove's WorldWar series (reptile like aliens invade Earth during World War II) the "lizard" aliens had very dry poop and didn't pee, whereas the humans...and consequences thereof were discussed in the series.

Francene Stanley link
11/30/2013 10:57:22 pm

The novel series sounds very interesting. I hadn't heard of it.

peppylady (Dora) link
11/29/2013 12:19:27 am

End of each month I like to adventure out and visit some different blogs....I'm total clueless who, why, and exist. I can't answer that. But somehow we all survive. But we change or adapted

Coffee is on

Francene Stanley link
11/30/2013 11:06:58 pm

Yep! We could all have changed from dinosaurs and been reincarnated over the millenia, adapting so much we bacame human beings. I like that idea. I'd rather be me in my present form.

Sophie Bowns link
11/29/2013 12:29:04 am

Wow 240 million years old! It's so incredible how fossils have been preserved! :)

Francene Stanley link
11/30/2013 11:07:43 pm

It's hard to imagine such a distant past.


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    Author

    Francene Stanley, author of many published novels. If you like my writing, why not consider purchasing one of my books? You'll see them on the sidebar below.
    Born in Australia, I moved to Britain half way through my long life.

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