70-66.5 MILLION YEARS B.P. TYRANNOSAURUS REX COPROLITE

• This finely-preserved 70-66.5 million year old Tyrannosaurus Rex coprolite is a rare opportunity to own an important piece of natural history. Pieces such as this are rarely found outside of museums.
• The type species Tyrannosaurus rex (rex meaning ``king`` in Latin), often shortened to T. Rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the latest Campanian-Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period, 72.7 to 66 million years ago. It was among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
• Tyrannosaurus was a bipedal carnivore with a massive skull balanced by a long, heavy tail. Relative to its large and powerful hind limbs, the forelimbs of Tyrannosaurus were short but unusually powerful for their size, and they had two clawed digits. The most complete specimen measures 12.3–12.4m in length, but according to most modern estimates, Tyrannosaurus could have exceeded sizes of 13m in length and 8.8 tonnes in mass. The Tyrannosaurus is among the largest known land predators, with its estimated bite force being the largest among all terrestrial animals. By far the largest carnivore in its environment, Tyrannosaurus rex was most likely an apex predator.
• Coprolite is fossilized faeces. Coprolites are classified as trace fossils, as they give evidence for the animal`s behaviour. They serve a valuable purpose in paleontology because they provide direct evidence of the predation and diet of extinct organisms.Analysis of Tyrannosaurus coprolite show that it contained the bones of its prey.
• In 1998, paleontologists discovered a Tyrannosaurus rex coprolite found in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. After analyzing the coprolite, it was found that not only did the coprolite have elevated levels of phosphorous (a common chemical feature of carnivore faeces), but about thirty-to-fifty percent of the coprolite mass was broken fragments of bone from a dinosaur. The report concluded ``this rare example of fossilized dietary residues helps to refine our understanding of theropod feeding behaviour by providing physical evidence that a tyrannosaur crushed, consumed, and incompletely digested large quantities of bone when feeding on a dinosaur.``
• Dated to 70-66.5 Million Years Before Present (Cretaceous Period).
• Size: 45mm x 42mm x 35mm
• Provenance:
• - Private collection, Lincolnshire, UK
• - Private collection, Sydney, Australia
• Condition: This piece is extremely well preserved and remains in excellent condition - refer images.
• Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Internationally recognised BidSafe authentication and verification number: 4998290-10)
• Inspected and verified by an archaeologist and prominent historical author with a PhD in archaeology.
• Due to the Importance of this Piece, it was Required to have an Open General Export License (O.G.E.L.) Issued by the United Kingdom Government Prior to Export. The Arts Council England also Checked this Piece on the INTERPOL Stolen Works of Art Database and Cleared it for Export. (SN:4998290-10) (310530-1)

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