The cooling of the cave environment at night and in winter also contributes to preservation by reducing the rate of chemical reactions that degrade organic molecules.

Temperature is a critical determinant of the rate of chemical processes, including both the biological degradation of DNA and proteins and the non-biological chemical reactions that can alter organic molecules over time.

Lower average temperatures slow all of these processes, extending the window of time during which ancient molecules remain intact and informative.

Understanding these preservation conditions has practical implications for how archaeologists approach sites in arid cave environments.

The same conditions that preserved the Paisley coprolites may preserve similar materials at other sites across the Great Basin and surrounding regions — sites that have not yet been systematically examined for coprolite content or that have not had their coprolite assemblages subjected to ancient DNA or lipid biomarker analysis.