by Victor Perez
George Frandsen, a fossil collector based in Florida, recently reached a new milestone that many of us have often fantasized about. His fossil collection was certified by Guinness World Records as the largest private collection of coprolite, or fossilized feces in the world. Below are some examples of coprolite.The specimens on the right are light weight and have a typical layered form, but the most interesting feature is the phalanx (toe bone) of a small deer-like mammal called Leptomeryx imbedded in the coprolite. On the left is George’s largest specimen and it exemplifies the characteristic form and size for a large crocodile-like reptile. To get a sense of the size of the specimen, it is the fossil that George is holding in his right hand.
Alright, so maybe you’ve never fantasized about having the largest collection of fossilized excrement, but you’ve probably wondered if you have anything world record worthy. After a few years of jokes about having the largest collection of crap from friends and family, George decided to do some digging to see if there was in fact a “largest collection of crap.” So in 2014, George contacted Guinness to find out if there was a standing record and what he would have to do to challenge that record. And about a year later with the help of friends, family, the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, and a couple of paleontologists; his collection was put to the test.
On August 1st, Sean Moran and I (Victor Perez) of the Florida Museum of Natural History travelled to the South Florida Museum to verify the count. Guinness had told George that the previous record was 575 specimens. George had his collection organized and catalogued, so he already knew that he had roughly 1300 specimens. Now all it took was convincing Sean and I that they were all true coprolites. It can be challenging to determine if a sample is actually a fossil or just an ordinary rock. However, there are a few key features to look out for when trying to identify a coprolite including shape, size, density, and the presence of other fossils. Any specimens that we were skeptical about had to be excluded from the total count. Consequently, roughly 50 specimens were removed because they lacked distinctive features or were simply too small or fragmentary. This still left George with a dominating record of 1277 specimens and on August 13th, 2015 Guinness approved this remarkable collection, with specimens from 8 different countries, as the world’s largest private collection of coprolite.
Of course achieving this benchmark isn’t the endpoint for George. His collection is going to be put on display at the South Florida Museum beginning October 3, 2015, attaining another record as the largest exhibit of coprolite ever. George recognizes the vast amount of biologic information that coprolites can provide and hopes to turn his collection into a traveling exhibit, so that others can appreciate the value in these underrated fossils. Currently, George curates the website www.Poozeum.com, in which you can find just about anything you’d like to know about coprolites as well as see images of his collection. George plans to continue to expand his collection and the website to provide others with a hub of coprolite information, while also staying competitive for any potential challengers in the future.