Coprolites containing plant material from the Carboniferous of Britain

Coprolites containing plant material are described from the Middle Coal Measures (Westphalian B) of Swillington, near Leeds, West Yorkshire. Other possible coprolites from the Lower Carboniferous (Calciferous Sandstone Series) of the Loch Humphrey Burn and Glenarbuck localities in the Kilpatrick Hills, Strathclyde are also recorded. The Coal Measure specimens contain either lycopod megaspore fragments, indeterminate plant debris, or a large variety of microspores (attributable to Lycopsida, Sphenopsida, Pteropsida; Filicinae, Gymno-spermae, and Pteridospermae) whereas the Lower Carboniferous specimens consist mainly of rolled plant debris. It is suggested that these coprolites belonged to animal litter feeders and is direct evidence of animals eating vegetation in the Palaeozoic.