Giant prehistoric toilet unearthed

[muriel_volestrangler]

It's called Free Republic

A gigantic "communal latrine" created at the dawn of the dinosaurs has been unearthed in Argentina.

Thousands of fossilised poos left by rhino-like megaherbivores were found clustered together, scientists say.
...
The perpetrator 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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-25126333

[zbdent]

1. oddly, the chemical composition of the pool

exactly matches Rush Limbaugh's DNA ...

[enlightenment]

2. Very interesting discovery,

and kudos to the Beeb for the repeated use of "poo" in the article.

I don't think that the critter looks anything like a modern rhino, though!

Thank you for posting, muriel. Learned something new today.

[Initech]

3. So would that mean a lot of fossils that are found are just dinosaur poop?

That would explain most Fox News commentators.

[LiberalEsto]

5. They are technically called coprolites, I believe nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

8. coprolites, corpolites.....

COINCIDENCE? I think not......

[awoke_in_2003]

4. Did they eat corn?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

13. snarfle

[roguevalley]

6. i have a chunk of fossilied dinosaur dung as a gift from a science teacher friend

it is really a beautiful thing. tiny bits and pieces compose it and its like a geode on the outside. gorgeous stuff. Literally.

[ninehippies]

7. omg! I thought you were being facetious!

I saw 'rhino like,' fossilized, poo and thought it was an 'Onion' kind of essay about a certain political party of old white guys. Yeah, interesting, though. Who'da thunk dinosaurs would be so tidy?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

9. sooo.. they can be litter-trained!!!!!!

Make a good pet!!!

Awwwwwww.

[the_sly_pig]

10. My boys tell my wife they want to be scatologists....

My wife gets mad at me.

[dembotoz]

12. seems with each answer we get more questions--science is cool

[KansDem]

14. Okay, here's a plan for the TeaPublicans...

"But it's also a warning to predators. If you leave a huge pile, you are saying: 'Hey! We are a big herd. Watch out!'"

Starting piling up chunks of feces along US borders to deter immigration.