Millions of years of "missing" insect history have finally been found inside fossilized piles of prehistoric poop.
April 16, 2026
Original Paper
Herbivory in Pennsylvanian Peat Forests: A Systematic Framework for Arthropod Coprolite Morphotypes
SSRN · 6582154
The Takeaway
Insects rarely leave behind fossils because their bodies are so fragile, leaving a massive hole in our understanding of ancient forests. Researchers have now created the first systematic framework to identify arthropod coprolites (fossilized droppings) from coal balls dating back 300 million years. By studying these "poop fossils," they can finally see exactly what ancient bugs were eating and how they lived inside peat forests. It’s the ultimate piece of dirty detective work that reveals the hidden gears of Earth's prehistoric ecosystems where body fossils are totally missing.
From the abstract
Herbivorous arthropods were important consumers of living plant tissues in Pennsylvanian peat swamp ecosystems, yet direct evidence of these interactions remains limited because arthropod body fossils are rare or absent in coal-ball deposits. Coal balls, carbonate permineralizations of peat, preserve arthropod coprolites that provide a direct record of herbivory within Pennsylvanian peat forests. This study establishes the first systematic framework for identifying and interpreting herbivorous c