By Laura Geggel, Senior
Writer | April 4, 2018 04:16pm ET
About 500 million years ago, a large
predatory sea worm munched on some dinner and left behind a pile of turds.
Then, the worm left its burrow on the seafloor, and some shelled critters came
along, poked at the droppings and died — fossilized for eternity around the
poopy picnic.
Researchers realized they were looking at
a Cambrian
period buffet
when they discovered a fossil containing the sea worm's fossilized excrement
and the remains of conically shelled sea critters known as hyoliths, according
to a new study published online yesterday (April 3) in the journal
Palaios.
In addition to this remarkable find, the
researchers unearthed other sea worm coprolites (fossilized poop) that other
Cambrian creatures, including trilobites, had fed on. These animals were
"opportunistic coprovores [dung eaters] drawn to the organic-rich fecal
mass," the researchers wrote in the study. [Cambrian
Creatures Gallery: Photos of Primitive Sea Life]
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