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Digesting an ancient ecosystem: coprolites from the Grippia bonebed, Lower Triassic, Svalbard
Vanja Simonsen1, Aubrey Jane Roberts1,2, Victoria Sjøholt Engelschiøn1
1Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Peerj
|February 23, 2026
Summary
Fossilized feces from Svalbard reveal diverse marine life in the Early Triassic, including fish, marine reptiles, and the first evidence of invertebrates like sponge spicules and cephalopods.
Area of Science:
- Paleontology
- Marine Biology
- Geology
Background:
- The Lower Triassic Grippia bonebed on Svalbard contains fragmented marine vertebrate remains.
- Coprolites are valuable indicators of past diets and ecosystems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To classify and analyze coprolites from the Svalbard bonebed.
- To identify inclusions within coprolites to reconstruct the Early Triassic food web.
Main Methods:
- Morphological classification of 97 coprolites.
- Analysis of inclusions using thin sections, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT).
Main Results:
- Five distinct coprolite morphotypes were identified.
- Inclusions included skeletal material, fish scales, sponge spicules, cephalopod shell fragments, and onychites.
- CT-scanning proved effective for identifying low-density inclusions like onychites.
Conclusions:
- The study expands knowledge of the Early Triassic marine paleoecosystem and food web on Svalbard.
- Potential coprolite producers include chondrichthyans, osteichthyes, ichthyopterygians, and temnospondyls.
- A novel CT-scanning method for paleobiological analysis was demonstrated.
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