RWA3006
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Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 9:42:34 GMT -5
I got a question: Did the food that the creature ate contribute to the color or was that strictly mineralization?
Tela, my opinion is it's strictly mineralization because of common color traits within specimens of small local deposits. I find many that have a common color theme within an area of a quarter acre and then I move over 400 yards away and that group will exhibit another color theme. Even though they all came from the same layer of sediment they can vary according to the micro local mineral traits. I could be wrong but that's what I've observed.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 9:48:11 GMT -5
Randy, from your first post, what can you tell us about the red circled poo? Dave, that particular specimen is outstanding not because of color or pattern, but because it is severely loaded with gastroliths. It could pass for a common conglomerate found scattered from Green River to Moab to Ticaboo, but I'm confident it's a genuine turd. I believe the hadrosaurs responsible for these coprolites gulped down mouthfuls of beach gravel and once in a while we find a specimen that's charged with gravel.
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Post by 1dave on Dec 30, 2020 11:22:40 GMT -5
Randy, from your first post, what can you tell us about the red circled poo? Dave, that particular specimen is outstanding not because of color or pattern, but because it is severely loaded with gastroliths. It could pass for a common conglomerate found scattered from Green River to Moab to Ticaboo, but I'm confident it's a genuine turd. I believe the hadrosaurs responsible for these coprolites gulped down mouthfuls of beach gravel and once in a while we find a specimen that's charged with gravel. Would you share some close-up of it?
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Post by Mel on Dec 30, 2020 12:01:23 GMT -5
This whole thread is amazing. For a multitude of reasons Mel, welcome over here to the crappy neighborhood. It warms my heart to think we might be pulling a few viewers from the more civilized parts of the forum. I....think you're giving me a LOT of credit with that one, but I will TAKE IT! My motto is "you can never know it all, but it sure is fun to try."
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 12:48:59 GMT -5
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 12:52:01 GMT -5
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 12:56:21 GMT -5
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Post by RickB on Dec 30, 2020 13:18:02 GMT -5
Randy, from your first post, what can you tell us about the red circled poo? 1dave Looks like a gastric disorder to me.
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Post by 1dave on Dec 30, 2020 13:19:34 GMT -5
Thanks!
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Post by RickB on Dec 30, 2020 13:20:47 GMT -5
In the close-up photo, it looks like banana nut liver pâté bread.
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RWA3006
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Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 13:47:47 GMT -5
When I was a kid I used to clean out the gizzards of chickens and game birds we ate. The amount of grit in their gizzards varied tremendously.
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Post by fernwood on Dec 30, 2020 14:04:30 GMT -5
Many birds need grit in order to digest their food. I wonder if the same with some dino's?
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 14:44:34 GMT -5
Many birds need grit in order to digest their food. I wonder if the same with some dino's? I believe the evidence is fairly strong that some species did.
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Post by Mel on Dec 30, 2020 15:48:41 GMT -5
Those last few are definitely more...waste looking than the others. I would have written them off as simple conglomerates or trachyte, if you want to be fancy. I thought they were the same thing, but maybe not! Thoughts?
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RWA3006
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 30, 2020 20:07:38 GMT -5
Those last few are definitely more...waste looking than the others. I would have written them off as simple conglomerates or trachyte, if you want to be fancy. I thought they were the same thing, but maybe not! Thoughts? I think this is perfectly logical and is a good observation. Where the game changing circumstances enter is the context of the location where these puppies are found. The vast majority of the country rock is composed of layers of alluvial cobbles and sand, or beach gravel, some of it petrified in banks of conglomerate similar to the stoney coprolite pictured earlier. There are also thick layers of volcanic ash and probably meteorite strike material within and adjacent to the Brushy Basin member of the Morrison Formation. At first glance a reasonable person would think the coprolites in question and chunks of conglomerate would be ambiguous and difficult to differentiate. However if I were to take you over hill and dale with me so you could spend a day or two observing all the material in all it's context pretty soon you would discern subtle nuances in the material and become quite proficient at identifying it. Each slight characteristic in a rock may not mean much in itself, but when numerous factors start appearing the sum of their individual contributions toward an accurate identification can provide firmer ground for conclusions. Some of these nuances are thickness and composition of the rock's rind, texture and species of gastroliths, phenotype, phosphate content, silicification traits, calcium carbonate content, location of the subject within the strata, weathering patterns, fossilized plant or animal material within the subject stone, impact evidence from falling from the animal or being trodden upon, and so forth. If all else fails .... I administer the smell test.
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RWA3006
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Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Dec 31, 2020 23:34:39 GMT -5
If 2020 were a specimen I'd say it was a rugged little turd. Here's a few rough turds to pay tribute to a constipated year.
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Post by jasoninsd on Dec 31, 2020 23:48:18 GMT -5
If 2020 were a specimen I'd say it was a rugged little turd. Here's a few rough turds to pay tribute to a constipated year. Who could've predicted an entire year was going to need a stool softener! LOL
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Post by 1dave on Jan 1, 2021 8:02:55 GMT -5
If 2020 were a specimen I'd say it was a rugged little turd. Here's a few rough turds to pay tribute to a constipated year. Who could've predicted an entire year was going to need a stool softener! LOL Standard Brain Washing Techniques - Repetition brings conviction.
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Jan 1, 2021 17:56:19 GMT -5
In my older years I marvel at how fast time flies and am reminded of that today, new years day. Here's a photo of some random turds laying on the desert floor. There's only about 146 million years between the cow pie in the foreground and the five coprolites behind it.
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RWA3006
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Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,577
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Post by RWA3006 on Jan 1, 2021 17:58:15 GMT -5
The fresh depression at seven o'clock is where I had just picked up a nice coprolite.
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