Cretaceous Fish Coprolite (Fossil Poop) - Kansas

This is a rather unusual fossil, it is a coprolite (fossilized poop) from a large fish. It comes from the Late Cretaceous, Smoky Hill Chalk of Gove County Kansas.

The Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Niobrara Chalk formation is a Cretaceous conservation Lagerstätte, or fossil rich geological formation, known primarily for its exceptionally well-preserved marine reptiles. It outcrops in parts of northwest Kansas, its most famous localities for fossils, and in southeastern Nebraska. Large well-known fossils excavated from the Smoky Hill Chalk include marine reptiles such as plesiosaurs, large bony fish such as Xiphactinus, mosasaurs, flying reptiles or pterosaurs (namely Pteranodon), flightless marine birds such as Hesperornis, and turtles.