18 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Poop

The elementary human activity of pooping is one of the most oecumenical experiences on the planet . rent ’s celebrate our similarities with 18 bits of fascinating , little - known facts about feces !

1. It’s not totally clear why coffee makes you poop

Caffeine may be partly responsible , but studies conducted with anal probes show that even decaf triggers contractions along the last pair of stops on the # 2 Metro that is your large intestine ( a concluding stretch of bowel that science calls the rectosigmoid colon).What ’s really intriguing , however , is that these contractions have been read to begin within four minutes of coffee bean consumption . “It seems improbable , ” note the author of“Effect of coffee on distal colon function,”that coffee would affect the colon so quick “ either via [ the intestines ] or the rakehell flow . ” This , the authors resolve , suggest an indirect action of java on the colon .

2. The first author of “Effect of coffee on distal colon function” is named S.R. Brown.

The second author ’s surname is Cann . The third author ’s is Read , which , granted , is n’t as punny as “ Brown ” or “ Cann , ” but is still gently amusing when you turn over that …

3. Some people report experiencing an urge to poop when visiting a bookstore

It ’s squall the Mariko Aoki phenomenon , after the womanhood who first publicized it in a 1985 essay . Here ’s Wikipedia :

potential theories behind the phenomenon admit the smell of paper or ink having a laxative outcome , the association with reading on the toilet at home , and the posture of browsing make intestine movement easier . The grounds for these explanation , however , remain weak .

In fact , Wikipedia goes so far as to call it a Nipponese urban fable , but I ’ve spoken with at least one person this hebdomad who claims to feel the laxative consequence of American bookstores with telling regularity . ( “ Quiz me , ” she said . “ Name any bookstore , and I ’ll tell you where its john is . ” ) American datum power point of one , but we ’re hazard there aremore of you out there . Maybe even dozens . Dozens !

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4. The word for fossilized poop is “coprolite”

From the Greek words kopros , meaning “ muck , ” and lithos , meaning “ pit . ” project above : A 40 - inch - foresightful coprolite ( one of the longest ever discovered ) , which was latterly sold at auction sale . From the vendue page :

It boasts a wonderfully even , pallid brown - jaundiced coloring and terrifically elaborated texture to the hard boytrose open across the whole of its vast duration . The genus Passer of this remarkable object is nameless , but it is nonetheless a extremely evocative specimen of unprecedented size , portray in four sections , each with a heavy black marble custom Qaeda .

5. Coprolites have been called “the next frontier of paleontology”

Once consider the “ Rodney Dangerfields of the fogey cosmos , ” coprolite have been gaining respect in paleontological circles . According toNational Geographic , “ some go so far as to say that paleo stern interpret one of the more intriguing — albeit uncharted — orbit of dinosaur dodo research . ”

6. Who knows, coprolites might one day inspire a Jurassic Park-type movie

Hendrik Poinar , director of theAncient DNA Center at McMaster University , was the first investigator to extract desoxyribonucleic acid from coprolite . He ’s also the grandson of entomologist George Poinar , whose work on ancient insects in amber was the inspiration for Michael Chrichton ’s Jurassic Park – the film version of which , you no doubt recall , features its own memorable fit involving one big pile of dinosaur shit .

7. The oldest human poop ever discovered dates to about 50,000 years ago

The faecal remains , which were documented just last month inPLOS ONE , suggestNeanderthals ate right smart more veggies than previously believe .

8. This is what blue whale poop looks like from an airplane:

See that rust fungus - colored streak on the left ? That ’s a expectant load of whale feces , an oceanic skidmark perchance the distance of a few Volvos .

9. But… why is it red?

The color comes from the branding iron - ample shells of krill , which make up most of the blue whale ’s diet . When blue hulk poop , they jettison most of that iron back into the water , where it stimulates the ontogenesis of phytoplankton . Phytoplankton , in turn , help as carbon copy trapsthat move out an approximate 400,000 piles of C from the atmosphere every twelvemonth .

10. This is what a spool of snail poop looks like:

Here , designer Lieske Schreuder has created bobbin of 5 - mm diam “ thread ” made of garden snail ( Helix aspersa ) excretory product .

11. But… why is it Fruity-Pebbles colored?

When garden snail eat colored report , they poop dyed feces , whichSchreuderis hoping to expend as the material for manufacturing colorful floor tiles .

12. Okay, but… why is my poop Fruity-Pebbles colored?

If you feel like I ’m weirdly preoccupied with poop coloration , moot this : Enough people worry about the hue of their feces that the Mayo Clinic has felt oblige to create a webpage titled“Stool Color : When to concern . ”

13. Hypochondriacs might want to avoid reading “Stool Color: When to Worry”

Is your stool green ? Either you recently eat immature , leafy veggies , or food is moving through your intestines too quickly .

Is your stool brilliant red ? It ’s probably beets . Then again , maybe it ’s hemorrhoids .

Is your stool yellow , greasy , and foul - smelling ? You may have a malabsorption upset ( like celiac ’s disease ) . Alternatively , maybe you had too much cereal this morning .

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Is your faecal matter black ? Either you ’re leech internally , or you ate some black liquorice .

14. The marginalia of illuminated manuscripts are loaded with visual poop and fart jokes

patently , the fart - powered trumpet was always ripe for a laugh , as was the pooping rascal .

15. Penguin poopcan be seen from space:

16. Penguins poop with enviable force

A studyfocused on Adélie and Chinstrap penguin shows that these doll can poop at four time the pressing of your typical human . ( Side banknote : The title of the paper is a adorable combination of alliteration and verse : “ pressing produced when penguins pooh – calculations on avian defaecation . ” )