>
Parasites have been discovered in a 200 million year old fossilized poop.
Researchers have discovered that one of the earliest predators on the planet was infested with roundworms, known as nematodes, among many other parasites.
The poop — or coprolite, as fossilized feces are known to paleontologists — is believed to have belonged to a type of semi-aquatic phytosaur, a crocodile-like predator.
The news comes less than a month after another team of researchers revived a prehistoric worm, the long-extinct species Panagrolaimus kolymaensisfound dormant in the icy Siberian permafrost in a state of ‘cryptobiosis’.
In the new study, a portion of the 2.91-inch-long ancient poop was analyzed by a team of researchers from Mahasarakham University, Thailand, who discovered five types of parasitic remains, each about 50-150 micrometers long.
The group cut open the parasitic egg fossils with a diamond saw “using a standard thin section method,” according to their report.
These ultra-thin slices cut with a diamond saw allowed the team of paleontologists to view cross-sections of the ancient infectious microbes under the microscope.
Part of a 2.91-inch-long coprolite (fossilized feces) was analyzed by a team of researchers from Mahasarakham University, Thailand, who discovered five types of parasitic remains. Above are more coprolites collected in Nong Yakong village, Chaiyaphum province, Thailand
Above, parasite samples that the paleontologists defined as ‘morphotype IV’ found in the ancient feces. The researchers said these “decorated surfaces” could suggest these are the remains of fern or moss spores that were ingested but not digested by the ancient animal.
Above, a fossil of a parasite of ‘morphotype III’, found in the coprolite. The researchers said these samples showed “a well-developed shell and organized bodies within the shell.” It could be a nematode egg with a developed embryo, they said, but further research will be needed to prove it
One with a thick shell was identified as a nematode worm egg, while the others were believed to be either further eggs, protozoan cysts, or moss and fern spores.
Modern parasites are a common and important part of ecosystems, but ancient parasites and their role in prehistoric ecosystems have traditionally been quite difficult to study because so few specimens have survived in the fossil record.
Parasites often inhabit the soft tissues of their host, but are rarely preserved as fossils.
But this late Triassic fossilized cylindrical coprolite (the poop), described in the journal PLOS ONEwas encased and shielded from the elements in Thailand’s Huai Hin Lat geological formation, which is over 200 million years old.
It was found by local villagers, according to the study’s lead author, paleontologist Thanit Nonsrirach.
Modern parasites are a common and important part of ecosystems, but ancient parasites and their role in prehistoric ecosystems are difficult to study since so few specimens have survived in the fossil record. Above a sample of a ‘morphotype II’ parasite, possibly a moss spur
“The peculiar appearance of these finds intrigued the villagers, who viewed them as potentially auspicious and capable of bestowing good luck when used as talismans,” Nonsrirach told the news site. Other way around.
“In 2010, our team received word of this discovery and began a field expedition, guiding the villagers to the actual fossil site.”
This is the first record of parasites in a terrestrial vertebrate host from the late Triassic period in Asia and a rare glimpse into the life of an ancient animal apparently infected by multiple parasitic species.
This discovery also adds to the few known examples of nematode eggs preserved in the coprolites of Mesozoic animals.
“Parasites of several species, including Ascaridida (roundworm) eggs were found in a coprolite,” said Nonsrirach, “probably produced by a crocodile-like reptile and possibly a phytosaur.”
“This is therefore the first discovery of Ascaridida eggs and evidence of multi-infection in a host attributable to the late Triassic Crurotarsi of Asia,” said Nonsrirach, who works at Mahasarakham University’s Paleontology Research and Education Center. .
“Coprolite is an important paleontological treasure trove, containing several undiscovered fossils and expanding our understanding of ancient ecosystems and food chains.”
“These findings,” he said, “are therefore an important contribution to the scientific understanding of the distribution and ecology of parasites of the distant past.”