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Coprolite chemistry - what fossilised faeces can tell us about extinct animals
As part of the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2012, an interactive talk by Dr Fiona Gill.
Event details
Faeces contains a complex mixture of chemical compounds, including substances from the diet and digestive processes. By better understanding the biology of extinct animals we can gain insights into how they interacted with their environment and potentially why they became extinct. Dr Gill’s research lies at the interface between palaeontology and chemistry. She uses organic geochemistry as a tool for investigating interactions between microbes and animals in the fossil record. Her current research focuses on the chemistry of modern and fossilised faeces (coprolites). Dr Gill holds a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, and is based in the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds.
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