A diverse fauna from the Eocene Lillebælt and Røsnæs Clay Formations, Hinge claypit, Denmark

The majority of Palaeogene coprolite localities are in nonmarine strata. We describe a new, large and diverse ichnofauna of small-sized vertebrate and invertebrate coprolites ranging from 0.5 – 14 mm in length, from the marine Eocene of Denmark that includes several new ichnotaxa. The ichnofauna derives from the early – middle Eocene Røsnæs Clay Formation (R6) and Lillebælt Clay Formation (L2) in the active claypit at Hinge, middle Jylland, Denmark. The vertebrate coprolites represent six morphotypes and 6 new ichnotaxa – Kylindrocopros hingeensis igen. et isp. nov., Kathemacopros duffini igen. et isp. nov., Osteocopros frandseni igen. et isp. nov., Commacopros dentziendiasae igen. et isp. nov., Kranocopros lucasi igen. et isp. nov. and Hingecopros lillebæltensis igen. et isp. nov. We recognize a new ichnospecies of Kylindrocopros, K. rakshitae igen. et isp. nov. from the Eocene of the United States. Funiculocopros sinuosus igen. et isp. nov. is a member of the invertebrate coprolite ichnofamily Lumbricariidae and is the only post-Mesozoic example. This assemblage includes a rare co-occurrence of vertebrate and invertebrate coprolites.