National Geographic News reports that archaeologists have discovered what might be the world's oldest human hair. In fossilized hyena poop. The fossilized poop (known politely as a "coprolith") was found in a cave in South Africa. Archaeologist Lucinda Backwell from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa teased 40 fossilized hairs out of the tiny (less than an inch long) poops, which were found in sediment dated 195,000 to 257,000 years ago. The hairs show a pattern of "wavy bands of scales" which most closely match those of modern humans. Backwell says that based on the hairs' age, they could belong to either early Homo sapiens, or late Homo heidelbergensis. The date of the hairs puts them at the time when we emerged, and Homo heidelbergensis began to dwindle. Homo heidelbergensis or "Heidelberg Man" existed between 600,000 and 400,000 years ago, and may have been the foundation for Homo neanderthalensis. Homo heidelbergensis used projectile spears and rudimentary knives for cutting meat, and may have buried their dead (the evidence for this is unclear). Study of the poop itself indicates that it came from brown hyenas, which still live in the area where the coproliths were found. It is unclear whether the hyena was responsible for the death of the hairs' owner, or if it ingested the hairs as a scavenger. Modern brown hyenas scavenge most of their meals, although they do hunt small mammals. The previous record for "oldest human hair" belonged to hairs found on a 9,000 year old Chilean mummy.