Gar-Bitten Coprolite From South Carolina, USA

Abstract

Coprolites can preserve a wide range of biogenic components. Of all the coprolites known from the fossil record, hitherto only two are known to preserve vertebrate tooth impressions (i.e., those of chondrichthyans). Here, a coprolite, from a thick lag deposit that includes a mixture of late Cretaceous, early Paleocene, and Plio-Pleistocene taxa at Clapp Creek in Kingstree, Williamsburg County, South Carolina, USA, preserves bite marks most consistent with having been made by a gar, Lepisosteus sp. (Lepisosteidae, Actinopterygii). This is the first-known coprolite to preserve actinopterygian tooth/bite marks. Aborted coprophagy seems unlikely; an accidental or serendipitous strike more likely describes the origin of the score marks over the surface of the coprolite. This coprolite also preserves small paired striations interpreted as evidence of coprophagy by an unknown organism.

Keywords:

• Coprolite
• Cretaceous
• Paleocene
• Lepisosteus
• Crocodilian
• Dinosaur

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T. Scheirer (CMM) created Figure 3C with the same excellence that characterized all his work. J. Pojeta (Smithsonian Institution) provided liberal access to his lab where the coprolite was whitened. D. Cicimurri (SC State Museum) graciously shared information on the extinct teleost fauna from the Clapp Creek locality. K. Chin (University of Colorado) and L. Grande (Field Museum) contributed information on crocodilian and dinosaurian coprolites, and the identity of fossil gar from South Carolina, respectively, for which they are gratefully acknowledged. Helpful comments by R. Weems (Paleo Quest) improved an earlier version of this paper. Corrections and suggestions by two anonymous reviewers for Ichnos enriched this version; thank you! M. K. Gingras edited this contribution for Ichnos, many thanks.

Funding

This article was made possible by funding from the citizens of Calvert County, the Board of Calvert County Commissioners, and the Clarissa and Lincoln Dryden Endowment for Paleontology at the Calvert Marine Museum.