'Rare coprolite' for sale is actually really old poop

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 23 (UPI) -- An auction gallery in California is offering up a really long and really old piece of poop. Any takers? Nobody?

The ancient dung went on sale on Tuesday, July 22. As of late Wednesday, it was still available. The word "poop" can't be found anywhere on the website of I.M. Chait, auction house and purveyor of the petrified poo, but the artifact's photo hints at its identity.

Officially, I.M. Chait is selling "Enormous and Rare Coprolite" -- a fancy way of saying long, old animal manure. The purveyors aren't necessarily lying. The poop is quite old and long: 40 inches in length and judged to date back to some time between the Oligocene and Minocene Epochs, which puts it somewhere between 5.3 and 33.9 million years old.

I.M. Chait is asking for an offer between $8,000 and $10,000 for the "spectacular specimen." Besides the thrill of bragging to your friends about owning possibly the longest, oldest piece of animal poop in the world, the owner can stand and admire the poop's "wonderfully even, pale brown-yellow coloring and terrifically detailed texture." The animal responsible for the coprolite is undetermined.

Surprisingly, this particular piece of dung isn't the only excreta up for grabs. Five other storied stools courtesy of a Miocene-era turtle are also for sale, each for a steal of an offer -- between $4,000 and $6,000.