Fossil farts are extremely rare, but they have recently been discovered to exist by
University of Massachusetts at Amherst biologist Lynn Margulis and her
colleagues. The scientists had noticed that fossils of a particular species
of termite, trapped in amber, were always accompanied by bubbles of gas.
The scientists drilled into the trapped bubbles and analyzed the gases inside,
and found them to be rich in methane and carbon dioxide. They had also found
gut microbes fossilized within the termites' intestines. Their hypothesis
is that the microbes continued to live and digest the termite's last meal,
even after the termite had been trapped in tree sap and died. These intestinal
gases then seeped out of the termite, forming bubbles in the sap. Eventually
the sap hardened into amber, containing fossil termites, fossil microbes,
and fossil farts.
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20020330/cover.jpgI will never look at that pretty, sparkly amber the same again.
More fart facts here>>>
http://www.heptune.com/farts.html