041819

Grainstone composed almost exclusively of Parafavreina, a fecal pellet made by burrowing shrimp. This deposit is almost identical to modern accumulations of fecal pellets made by related burrowing-shrimp.This thin section was stained with Alizarin red S, staining calcite pink. White particles are quartz silt grains.. Light pink areas are calcite cement crystals filling original open spaces among the pellets. Jurassic Smackover Formation, Alabama, image 2.5 mm wide.

The photos of Parafavreina that I have been posting were taken in the process of preparing this scientific article:

Rindsberg, A. K., and Kopaska-Merkel, D. C., 2013 , Parafavreina ziczac isp. nov., a crustacean microcoprolite from the Upper Jurassic (Oxfordian) Smackover Formation of Alabama, U.S.A., Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin 31, v. 2. p. 74-93.

I have PDF copies of the article if anyone is interested.

041519c

Shrimp fecal pellets, some deformed by compaction against firmer specimens. Jurassic Smackover Fm, Alabama, thin section. Image 2.5 mm wide.

041219b

Bimodal pellet dolograinstone. Dolomitized pellets (gray) in matrix of altered calcite cement (red) with fine porosity within and among pellets (blue), Large pellet in the center of image (arrow) is Parafavreina, a shrimp fecal pellet. Red color is the result of staining with Alizarin red S. Jurassic Smackover Formation, Alabama, thin-section photomicrograph.

040919c

Fecal pellet of burrowing shrimp, Jurassic Smackover Formation, Alabama, thin-section photomicrograph.

From a real Jurassic Park

Three kinds of microbial fabric and one piece of shrimp poop trapped inside; Jurassic, but no dinosaurs.

some good coprolite

This is only a test. Next time, it won't be just some shrimp sh*t.