# Urolite

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{{Short description|Trace fossil}}
[[Image:Urolito Fernandes.jpg|thumb|Urolite found in the [Botucatu](/source/Botucatu) Formation in [Araraquara](/source/Araraquara), São Paulo - Brazil.]]

'''Urolite''' is a term composed of two Greek words, ''uro-'' meaning "[urine](/source/urine)" and ''lithos'' meaning "[stone](/source/stone)" and was first used to describe the fossil of a nonliquid urinary secretions produced by some groups of [reptile](/source/reptile)s, in relation to [coprolite](/source/coprolite)s. The first evidence of recorded liquid waste elimination attributed to a dinosaur was presented to the public in 2002, but no scientific paper had reported fossil evidence of liquid waste of [tetrapod](/source/tetrapod)s elimination to assume that [dinosaur](/source/dinosaur)s urinated.{{clarify|post-text="Sense is garbled."|date=February 2012}}

In 2004, a paper by [paleontologist](/source/paleontologist) Marcelo Adorna Fernandes brought a study of [trace fossil](/source/trace_fossil)s that had been preserved in three aeolian [flagstone](/source/flagstone)s.<ref name=Fernandes2004>{{cite journal
 | author = Fernandes, M. A.| year = 2004
 | title = Occurrence Of Urolites Related To Dinosaurs In The Lower Cretaceous Of The Botucatu Formation, Paraná Basin, São Paulo State, Brazil
 | journal = Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia
 | pages = 263–268
 | doi = 10.4072/rbp.2004.2.20
 | url = http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/7_2/fernandes.pdf
|display-authors=etal| doi-access = free
 }}</ref>{{clarify|post-text="Sense is garbled."|date=February 2012}}
These trace fossils show a pattern that could be formed by an abundant falling stream of fluid and that is different from the structures described before in other occurrences in the paleontological record. The aspect of these urolites is very similar to soil deformation caused by modern [ostrich](/source/ostrich) urination, and certain groups of dinosaurs could have a similar urinary physiology. These urolites are the first evidence of liquid waste attributed to dinosaurs.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

Category:Trace fossils

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