Dinosaur coprolites from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Formation of India:: isotopic and other markers suggesting a C3 plant diet

A single locality of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Lameta Formation at Pisdura in Central India has yielded a large number of coprolites attributed to titanosaurian dinosaurs. Internally the coprolites are dark grey and contain abundant plant tissues and other organic materials. The plant tissues are mostly of gymnospermous origin. In addition, remains of bacterial colonies, fungal spores and algae are seen in the macerated fraction under scanning electron microscope. The dark grey appearance is probably attributable to fine-grained organic matter within voids in tracheids or xylem. The average C-13/C-12 ratio of the organic matter in the coprolites is -24parts per thousand (relative to PDB) suggesting that plants of C-3 type were the main diet of their producers. A comparison of delta(15)N value (about 4parts per thousand w.r.t. air) of the coprolites with that of faecal matter of modern herbivores and carnivores suggests that gut fermentation may not have been an active mechanism in the digestion process of titanosaurs. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.