Dinosaur coprolites from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Formation of India: isotopic and other markers suggesting a C3plant diet

Ghosh, Prosenjit; Bhattacharya, S.; Sahni, Ashok; Kar, Ratan; Mohabey, D. M.; Ambwani, K.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2003.08.002

Cited by 66 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Inferences on the health status of ancient populations can be made by studying intestinal parasites (Reinhard, 1992;Mitchell and Tepper, 2007). The origin and diagenetic fate of dung-derived C and N pools is investigated by stable isotope analysis (Dungait et al, 2009Ghosh et al, 2003;Shahack-Gross and Finkelstein, 2008;Simpson et al, 1999a). Analysis of phosphate, one of the main indicators of human activity, and multi-element analyses are interpretative tools to elucidate patterns of human occupation and cultivation, such as the identification of middens, burial soils, cultivated farmlands and byres Entwistle et al, 2000;Farswan and Nautiyal, 1997;Parnell et al, 2001;Simpson, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

Baeten

Marinova

Laet

et al. 2012

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tA public latrine in the 'Imperial Baths' of Sagalassos was transformed into a dump site in the early Byzantine period. Several layers of urban waste, including ceramics, bones, glass and perhaps excrements were deposited on the floor. Faecal biomarker analyses and archaeobotanical analyses were conducted to reconstruct the history of the room. 5b-stanols of human origin, such as coprostanol, were found in the sewage channels together with mineralised plant remains, indicating a human faecal context. The botanical remains are furthermore representative of the Roman diet of the Sagalassians. Soil layers, deposited on top of the latrine floor and dating to the early Byzantine period, contained herbivore derived 5b-stanols, such as 5b-stigmastanol and epi-5b-stigmastanol. Additionally, a clear predominance of epi-5b-stanols over 5b-stanols showed that the animal dung has been subject to composting. In this period, the former latrine was clearly used as a manure production site which is further confirmed by stratigraphic evidence of large amounts of urban waste artefacts, which were commonly collected together with manure before application on the fields. The results of the present study support the theory that off-site potsherd scattering can be used as a proxy for manuring events. Additionally, the data show key evidence for vertical migration of 5b-stanols and presumably also for the leaching of bile acids.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

Baeten

Marinova

Laet

et al. 2012

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…An Early Cretaceous ankylosaur, Minmi, has been reported (Molnar & Clifford 2000) with remnants of angiosperm fruits in its gut, and some remarkable coprolites from India show that some dinosaurs ate early grasses (Prasad et al 2005). Fossil occurrences and studies of the teeth and postulated jaw functions of herbivorous dinosaurs suggest that angiosperms were a part of the diet of many dinosaurs, but that gymnosperms were still the major constituent in most cases (Chin & Gill 1996;Barrett & Willis 2001;Ghosh et al 2003). Plant-eating insects and mammals very likely benefited more from the new sources of plant food.…”

Section: Dinosaurs and The Ktr G T Lloyd Et Al 2487mentioning

confidence: 99%

Dinosaurs and the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution

et al. 2008

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The observed diversity of dinosaurs reached its highest peak during the mid-and Late Cretaceous, the 50 Myr that preceded their extinction, and yet this explosion of dinosaur diversity may be explained largely by sampling bias. It has long been debated whether dinosaurs were part of the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution (KTR), from 125-80 Myr ago, when flowering plants, herbivorous and social insects, squamates, birds and mammals all underwent a rapid expansion. Although an apparent explosion of dinosaur diversity occurred in the mid-Cretaceous, coinciding with the emergence of new groups (e.g. neoceratopsians, ankylosaurid ankylosaurs, hadrosaurids and pachycephalosaurs), results from the first quantitative study of diversification applied to a new supertree of dinosaurs show that this apparent burst in dinosaurian diversity in the last 18 Myr of the Cretaceous is a sampling artefact. Indeed, major diversification shifts occurred largely in the first one-third of the group's history. Despite the appearance of new clades of medium to large herbivores and carnivores later in dinosaur history, these new originations do not correspond to significant diversification shifts. Instead, the overall geometry of the Cretaceous part of the dinosaur tree does not depart from the null hypothesis of an equal rates model of lineage branching. Furthermore, we conclude that dinosaurs did not experience a progressive decline at the end of the Cretaceous, nor was their evolution driven directly by the KTR.

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“…SalazarGarcía et al, 2014). Therefore, recent research has investigated whether there are other biological materials that can be used for isotope analysis, such as coprolites (Ghosh et al, 2003), carbonized sherd residues (Hart et al, 2009) and animals with human-like diets (Guiry and Grimes, 2013). Dental calculus (mineralized plaque) has recently been identified as a substrate for multiple kinds of dietary analysis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dental calculus is not equivalent to bone collagen for isotope analysis: a comparison between carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bulk dental calculus, bone and dentine collagen from same individuals from the Medieval site of El Raval (Alicante, Spain)

Salazar‐García

Richards

Nehlich

et al. 2014

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Dinosaur coprolites from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Formation of India: isotopic and other markers suggesting a C3plant diet

Cited by 66 publications

References 18 publications

Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

Dinosaurs and the Cretaceous Terrestrial Revolution

Dental calculus is not equivalent to bone collagen for isotope analysis: a comparison between carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of bulk dental calculus, bone and dentine collagen from same individuals from the Medieval site of El Raval (Alicante, Spain)

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