The giant sea creature, bearing a striking resemblance to the legendary Loch Ness monster, was about to answer the call of nature when, 110 million years ago, it died.
The body of the six-metre plesiosaur, with its long neck and flippers, sank into mud under the sea covering what is now northern Queensland, west of Cairns. It lay undisturbed until it was found in 1995.
Scientists studying the fossilised remains of its stomach, and the unpassed bowel movement, have identified remnants of its last meal, throwing into doubt long-held assumptions about the diet of the marine monsters.
The long necks of plesiosaurs stretched for more than half the length of their bodies.
"Most explanations for the long neck say it was used for catching agile animals, like fish," said one researcher, Colin McHenry, from the University of Newcastle.
But while examining the Queensland plesiosaur, Mr McHenry and his colleagues, Dr Alex Cook, from the Queensland Museum, and Dr Stephen Wroe of Sydney University, made a remarkable discovery.
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Advertisement"There was," Mr McHenry said, "a fossilised turd" in the lower intestine. The plesiosaur probably died "just prior to the turd being expelled".
The 18-centimetre undropped dropping was full, not of fish, but marine snails and clam shells.
The plesiosaur "wasn't bothering much with fish".
Its stomach held more shells and snails, 35 stones and "one tiny piece of fish, along with several pieces of squid-like animals".
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