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The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia

In this paper, seven coprolites from the Lower Cretaceous of Tsagan-Tsab formation have been described. Thus, producing a significant contribution to what we perceived as the first detailed study of coprolites from the Mesozoic deposits in Mongolia. The collected coprolites encompass a total of six...

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Autores principales: Rummy, Paul, Halaclar, Kazim, Chen, He
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8041832/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33846475
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87090-5
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author Rummy, Paul
Halaclar, Kazim
Chen, He
author_facet Rummy, Paul
Halaclar, Kazim
Chen, He
author_sort Rummy, Paul
collection PubMed
description In this paper, seven coprolites from the Lower Cretaceous of Tsagan-Tsab formation have been described. Thus, producing a significant contribution to what we perceived as the first detailed study of coprolites from the Mesozoic deposits in Mongolia. The collected coprolites encompass a total of six spiral amphipolar and one scroll coprolites. We prominently identified four new coprolite ichnotaxa, such as: Hyronocoprus tsagantsabensis and Hyronocoprus hunti, to which both are ichnosp. nov.; followed by Megakalocoprus barremianensis and Scrollocoprus tatalensis, where both are ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. Notably, CT scans revealed that all specimens showed various amounts of bony inclusions and scales, hence, deducing that the producers could have had a low acidic digestive track and were unable to dissolve bone matters. Moreover, SEM–EDS analysis concluded its carnivorous nature, thus, pointing towards piscivorous diet. The small sized Scrollocoprus is considered to be the second findings of Mesozoic era’s scroll coprolites, which contain possible plant pollens, a complete infraorbital bone, clusters of bone fragments and rhomboidal-shaped ganoid scales of the prey; and bioerosional scars have been observed on the surface. We suggest those amphipolar spiral ichnotaxa were produced by Asipenceriformes, with Pholidophoriformes as the prey, while Scrollocoprus represents fecal excrement of underived fish, possibly of sarcopterygian origins.
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spelling pubmed-80418322021-04-13 The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia Rummy, Paul Halaclar, Kazim Chen, He Sci Rep Article In this paper, seven coprolites from the Lower Cretaceous of Tsagan-Tsab formation have been described. Thus, producing a significant contribution to what we perceived as the first detailed study of coprolites from the Mesozoic deposits in Mongolia. The collected coprolites encompass a total of six spiral amphipolar and one scroll coprolites. We prominently identified four new coprolite ichnotaxa, such as: Hyronocoprus tsagantsabensis and Hyronocoprus hunti, to which both are ichnosp. nov.; followed by Megakalocoprus barremianensis and Scrollocoprus tatalensis, where both are ichnogen. et ichnosp. nov. Notably, CT scans revealed that all specimens showed various amounts of bony inclusions and scales, hence, deducing that the producers could have had a low acidic digestive track and were unable to dissolve bone matters. Moreover, SEM–EDS analysis concluded its carnivorous nature, thus, pointing towards piscivorous diet. The small sized Scrollocoprus is considered to be the second findings of Mesozoic era’s scroll coprolites, which contain possible plant pollens, a complete infraorbital bone, clusters of bone fragments and rhomboidal-shaped ganoid scales of the prey; and bioerosional scars have been observed on the surface. We suggest those amphipolar spiral ichnotaxa were produced by Asipenceriformes, with Pholidophoriformes as the prey, while Scrollocoprus represents fecal excrement of underived fish, possibly of sarcopterygian origins. Nature Publishing Group UK 2021-04-12 /pmc/articles/PMC8041832/ /pubmed/33846475 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87090-5 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Rummy, Paul
Halaclar, Kazim
Chen, He
The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title_full The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title_fullStr The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title_full_unstemmed The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title_short The first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the Tsagan-Tsab formation (lower cretaceous), Tatal, western Mongolia
title_sort first record of exceptionally-preserved spiral coprolites from the tsagan-tsab formation (lower cretaceous), tatal, western mongolia
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8041832/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33846475
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87090-5
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