See the oldest fossilized 'butthole' imprint
12 hours ago
- #fossil
- #paleontology
- #cloaca
- Oldest known 'butthole' imprint found in fossilized mud from 299 million years ago in central Germany.
- The imprint is a cloaca, a single opening for excretion and reproduction, common in many animals.
- Discovered by paleontologist Lorenzo Marchetti while examining rare scale imprints in the fossil.
- Only two fossilized reptile cloacae are known: this one and a 130-million-year-old ceratopsian.
- The animal, named Cabarzichnus pulchrus, was a small lizardlike reptile likely cooling off in mud.
- The fine details preserved suggest the mud's consistency was perfect for such an imprint.