Turtle Shell Impression in a Coprolite from South Carolina, USA

ABSTRACTCoprolites (fossilized feces) can preserve a wide range of biogenic components. A mold of a hatchling turtle partial shell (carapace) referable to Taphrosphys sulcatus is here identified within a coprolite from Clapp Creek in Kingstree, Williamsburg County, South Carolina, USA. The specimen is the first-known coprolite to preserve a vertebrate body impression. The small size of the turtle shell coupled with the fact that it shows signs of breakage indicates that the turtle was ingested and that the impression was made while the feces were still within the body of the predator. The detailed impression could only have survived the act of defecation if the section of bony carapace was voided concurrently and remained bonded with the feces until the latter lithified. Exceptionally, the surface texture of the scutes is preserved, including its finely pitted embryonic texture and a narrow perimeter of hatchling scute texture. The very small size of the shell represented by the impression makes it a suit...