Palaeodiet of Miocene Producers and Depositional Environments:Inferences from the First Evidence of Microcoprolites from India

This paper reviews research on coprolites from India,providing the first evidence of microcoprolites from the early Miocene(Aquitanian)Khari Nadi Formation sedimentary succession,exposed about 1.5 km northeast of the village of Kotada,Kachchh(Kutch)District,Gujarat State,western India.Morphometric and size comparisons(in a statistical framework)with known coprolites from the Mesozoic-Cenozoic successions of India(including those recorded herein)and globally suggest that fishes were the likely producers of the Kotada coprolites.Scanning electron microscopy confirms the presence of fish dental remains within the coprolites,while both Scanning Electron Microscopy(SEM)and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy(EDS)reveal the phosphatic nature of the microscopic coprolite specimens(recorded herein)hinting that the producer(s)were predominantly carnivorous(ichthyophagous)in their diet.Furthermore,X-Ray Fluorescence(XRF)analysis of the host and associated lithologies allows us to deduce that the Kotada coprolites were deposited in a shallow marine environment,with possible aerial exposure of the host lithology occurring at some point after deposition.To the best of our knowledge,the present report is the first record of microscopic fish coprolites from India,as well as being the first from the Aquitanian of India and the oldest Neogene record from India.

Carboniferous coprolites from Qinhuangdao of North China

Here we reported the coprolites that are preserved in the dark grey silty shale of the Carboniferous Benxi Formation from Shimenzhai,Qinhuangdao,North China.The coprolites occur in a sinusoidal and ribbon-like aggregate.A coprolite granule is sesame-shaped,roundish at the terminals,equidimensional and equimorphic.It is 2.2 mm long and 0.6 mm wide.Its ventral surface appears flat,and its dorsal surface is slightly convex and has an axial furrow consisting of a string of bead-shaped pits.The coprolite granule has a directional arrangement and general equality in distribution within the aggregate.Its long axis is commonly perpendicular to the margins of the aggregate.The undigested food remains of animals and plants and the organomineral calcites with heteromorphology can be seen within the coprolite granule under photomicroscope and SEM.We deduced that a tracemaker of coprolites may be a tiny polyphagia animal similar to a modern loach or a tiny fish and that the tracemaker defecated and moved in synchronization below the interface between water and sediment.The coprolites may have a high viscidity and intensity while they were defecated.Diagenesis of feces may take place earlier and quicker than the host strata because of microbes.The lagersttte of coprolites described herein may result from the combination of many factors,such as the high content of oxygen in the Carboniferous atmosphere,the brackish lagoon in humid and tropic climate background,the low water energy,and the anoxic taphonomic environment that was lack of other animals.Further we suggested that the deoxidized color (dark grey) of host strata of coprolites may be formed in the sedimentary environment rich in oxygen and the early anoxic diagenetic environment.

Helicobacter pylori in ancient human remains

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori(H.pylori)infects the stomachs of approximately 50%of all humans.With its universal occurrence,high infectivity and virulence properties it is considered as one of the most severe global burdens of modern humankind.It has accompanied humans for many thousands of years,and due to its high genetic variability and vertical transmission,its population genetics reflects the history of human migrations.However,especially complex demographic events such as the colonisation of Europe cannot be resolved with population genetic analysis of modern H.pylori strains alone.This is best exemplified with the reconstruction of the 5300-year-old H.pylori genome of the Iceman,a European Copper Age mummy.Our analysis provided precious insights into the ancestry and evolution of the pathogen and underlined the high complexity of ancient European population history.In this review we will provide an overview on the molecular analysis of H.pylori in mummified human remains that were done so far and we will outline methodological advancements in the field of ancient DNA research that support the reconstruction and authentication of ancient H.pylori genome sequences.