It\u2019s a tail as old as time.<\/p>\n
Scientists may have discovered the world\u2019s oldest butthole after unearthing the nearly 300-million-year-old impression of a reptile\u2019s backend in Germany, per an upcoming study<\/a> in the journal Current Biology.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch soft-tissue structures are extremely rare in the fossil record \u2013 and the further back we look in Earth\u2019s history, the more exceptional they become,\u201d said Lorenzo Marchetti, a paleontologist at the German Natural History Museum in Berlin, in a statement.<\/a><\/p>\n He and his team described the fossil, which was found in the Thuringian Forest in Central Germany. According to their analysis, it was remarkably well-preserved, complete with belly scales and, most notably, a cloaca, a multi-purpose vent-like opening used for pooping, peeing, mating and laying eggs.<\/p>\n The imprint also had scales and other details. Lorenzo Marchetti<\/p>\n The trace fossil was the world\u2019s oldest buttprint, shattering the previous record by over 150 million years. Lorenzo Marchetti<\/p>\n The backdoor imprint reportedly dates back between 298 to 299 million years ago to the early Permian period, making it the oldest poopchute fossil of its kind. The record had been previously held by a 120-million-year-old butthole\u00a0that belonged to a dinosaur known as a Psittacosaurus.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSuch soft-tissue structures are extremely rare in the fossil record \u2013 and the further back we look in Earth\u2019s history, the more exceptional they become,\u201d said Lorenzo Marchetti, a paleontologist at the German Natural History Museum in Berlin. Lorenzo Marchetti<\/p>\n It was also the oldest known impression of the reptile skin period.<\/p>\n Researchers said the buttprint\u2019s owner only measured around 3.5 inches in length, but nonetheless left a mark as this was the first time said trace fossil had been described. <\/p>\n The researchers dubbed it Cabarzichnus pulchrus, noting that the animal\u2019s size and nearby footprints indicate that\u00a0the critter was likely a bolosaurian, an early species of reptile. <\/p>\n