Certain coprolites can be used to differentiate between ichnofacies. Ichnofacies are the preserved record of an assemblage of trace fossils, and the term coprofacies, applied by Hunt, Chin, and Lockley, has been used to define an ichnofacies in which coprolites are used to identify the assemblage.

   However they are very rare, simply due to the fact that:

      1) coprolites don't have a great stratigraphical importance

      2) coprolites aren't exactly the best trace fossils to preserve

   Nonetheless there is one good example of three coprofacies, and they are located in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, in the Upper Triassic Chinle Group. The first contains herbivorous coprolites, the second, heteropolar coprolites and the third, amphipolar coprolites. These three coprofacies represent a low energy environment, possibly fluvial or aquatic.

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