Schwimmer's Study on Shark Coprolite Published

November 24, 2015

David Schwimmer, professor of paleontology in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at Columbus State University, and his colleagues published an article in the November 2015 edition of the journal Palaios on shark coprolite, or fossilized fecal matter, found in 77 million-year-old rocks in South Carolina. The coprolite contained remains of a freshwater baby turtle, suggesting the shark was feeding in a Late Cretaceous river, upstream of the marine setting that sharks of this species would normally inhabit. Schwimmer's work advances the theory that Late Cretaceous sharks, much like modern bull sharks, were able to swim up freshwater streams for long distances in search of food.

To read more, go to http://palaios.geoscienceworld.org/content/30/9/707.abstract.

###