A 2200-year-old pile of poo offers an unprecedented look at the history of the Andean condor—Earth’s largest bird of prey.
High on a northern Patagonian cliffside sits a pile of poo with a view. Measuring multiple meters across, the densely layered ring is the product of thousands of years’ worth of condor excrement.
It's a “fascinating” study, says Kathryn Hargan, a paleoecologist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland who was not involved with the work. “You can’t get that kind of information with modern data.” The team sawed out a 25-centimeter-thick portion of the guano and refilled the ring with rocks to avoid disturbing the nest’s current occupants. They also collected droppings from a living adult Andean condor nestling in the area. After returning to the lab, the researchers put the guano through a battery of tests to pinpoint telltale traces of chemical isotopes, metals, and environmental DNA.
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