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Fossilized feces, also known as coprolites, are helping scientists in New Zealand peer back in time. Janet WilmshurstScientists can learn a lot about extinct animals by studying their footprints, bones and even teeth. But, while insightful, these artifacts dont always paint a complete picture of an ancient creatures diet or behavior. For that information, researchers often turn to another source: fossilized poop.Fossilized fecesalso known as coprolitescan shed light on the last day or two [of] behavior of an animal from hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago, says Alexander Boast, a paleoecologist at Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, to Cosmos Evrim Yazgin.Boast and a team of researchers, for example, are using fossilized dung to learn more about the diets of extinct flightless birds called moathat once roamed around New Zealand. Coprolites helped them confirm that moa feasted on colorful native fungiand, by doing so, the ostrich-like creatures might have helped maintain healthy forests on the South Pacific island.They describe their findings in a new paper published last week in the journal Biology Letters. Moalarge, flightless, ostrich-like birdsonce roamed around New Zealand. But humans hunted them to extinction roughly 600 years ago. John Megahan via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY 2.5Fungi play a vital role in many ecosystems. By breaking down organic matter, they put nutrients back into the soil. And by intertwining with tree roots, they defend the plants against harmful invaders and help them absorb nutrients and water.Many fungi rely on animals to spread and proliferate. These varieties produce drab-looking but tasty fruiting bodies called truffles, which mammals like dogs or boars will find by smellthen dig up and eat. In the process, these creatures transport the fungis spores to new places when they poop.But, before the arrival of humans, New Zealand did not have any mammals lumbering around and snacking on trufflesthe islands only native mammal species are bats and marine creatures. This got scientists wondering: How were the fungi spreading?They wondered if the islands birds, including moa, might have played a role. Some native, truffle-like fungi produce boldly colored fruiting bodies that grow in shades of blue, pink and purpleand to moa, which were known to eat fruit, these fungi might resemble berries.Birds have very strong color vision and they will forage predominately by sight, Boast tells Cosmos. So it looks like theres been some kind of mimicry. Effectively, these fungi look like berries on the forest floor, which is remarkable. Some species of native fungi, includingGallacea scleroderma (shown here),produce colorful fruiting bodies. Noah SiegelBut proving that the extinct birds ate and spread these native fungi appeared difficultuntil scientists stumbled upon the coprolite of destiny, as Boast tells Sciences Phie Jacobs. His team was rooting around in a cave when they discovered a piece of fossilized dung in a crevice.It came from an upland moa (Megalapteryx didinus), one of the nine species of moa that inhabited New Zealand before humans hunted the birds to extinction around 600 years ago. Weighing between 30 and 140 pounds, upland moa were among the smallest of all the moa, reports Stuffs Caron Copek.The team also tracked down a second upland moa coprolite that was housed in a museum. When they analyzed samples taken from the two fossilized feces, they found spores and DNA from the colorful native fungiconfirming their hypothesis that moa ate the fungi and helped them spread.Its pretty unambiguous at this point that [moa] were absolutely, definitely eating these things, Boast tells Science. The vividly colorful fruiting bodies of native fungal species, including Gallacea scleroderma, may have looked appetizing to extinct flightless birds called moa. Joseph PallanteNow, however, with the moa extinct, the fungi are likely not being dispersed as widely or as often.After Europeans began colonizing New Zealand, non-native mammals, like possums, deer, wallabies and wild pigs, were introduced to the island. But these animals are not interested in eating the vividly colored native fungal fruiting bodiestheyd rather eat smelly, non-native truffles. These non-native fungi, in turn, support the growth of non-native trees, which might outcompete native trees like the southern beech.This could have major implications for New Zealands forest ecosystems, though scientists are still investigating the possible ripple effects of the moas demise.Its very cool to look at a past ecosystem, but were trying to understand just how complex ecosystems were in the past, and what kind of long-term legacy impacts of extinction might be, Boast tells Cosmos. Its why we see this work as being very important.Matthew Smith, a fungal biologist at the University of Florida who was not involved in the work, suggests the native fungi might still have hope, even without the moa to disperse their spores: Fungi are pretty adaptable, he tells Science. I wouldnt count them out.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Animals, Birds, Ecology, Forests, Fossils, Fungus, Invasive Species, Land Birds, New Research, New Zealand, Poop
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