copris

[From Gr. koprisis a dunging, a manuring; koprizō - to dung, to manure. Cf. also kopriōna dung beetle, all from kopros =dung.] Entom.: A genus of Lamellicorn Beetles, the typical one of the family Copride (q.v.). One species, Copris lunar is, is found through all Europe. cop-ro-lite, s. [Gr. kopros =dung, and lithos =a stone.] 1. Palæont.: The dung of various animals found fo il, and sometimes so perfect as to indicate, not merely what the several species fed upon, but also the dimensions, form, and structure of their stomach and of their intestinal canal. On the shore at Lyme Regis, England, they lie thickly in some parts of the Lias like potatoes on the ground; they abound also in the estuary of the Severn. They tend to occur in all formations, specially where vertebrates are found. Some are of fishes, some of reptiles, and magnificent coprolites originating from the hyena were found in Kirkdale Cavern and other places. ( Buck land : Geol. & Min ., .) 2. Min .: Dana gives as a synonym of the coprolites described under 1, Phosphatic nodules, and a ociates them, but as a distinct species, with Apatite (q. v.). But some phosphatic nodules once believed to be coprolitic, such as those of the Upper Greensand, though apparently of organic origin, are not now believed to be the dung of any animal. cop-rol-it-ic, a . [Eng. coprolit (e); -ic.] Com posed of or containing coprolites; of the nature of or resembling coprolites. ." "Then, as additional evidence of the predaceous habits of these fish, there are the coprolitie bodies, Murchison: Siluria , ch. ix. co-proph-a-ganş, s . pl . [Mod. Lat. coprophag (i) (q. v.), and Eng. pl. suff. -ans.] Entom.: A book-name for the Lamellicorn Beetles called by Latreille Coprophagi (q. v.).