Carbon isotope fractionation between diet and bioapatite in ungulate mammals and implications for ecological and paleoecological studies

被引:818
作者
Cerling, TE [1 ]
Harris, JM
机构
[1] Univ Utah, Dept Geol & Geophys, Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA
[2] George C Page Museum, Los Angeles, CA 90036 USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
isotope fractionation; enamel; diet; carbon isotopes;
D O I
10.1007/s004420050868
中图分类号
Q14 [生态学(生物生态学)];
学科分类号
071012 ; 0713 ;
摘要
The isotope enrichment epsilon* of C-13 between tooth enamel of large ruminant mammals and their diet is 14.1 +/- 0.5 parts per thousand. This value was obtained by analyzing both the dental enamel of a variety of wild and captive mammals and the vegetation that comprised their foodstuffs. This isotope enrichment factor applies to a wide variety of ruminant mammals. Non-ruminant ungulates have a similar isotope enrichment, although our data cannot determine if it is significantly different. We also found a C-13 isotope enrichment epsilon* of 3.1 +/- 0.7 parts per thousand for horn relative to diet, and 11.1 +/- 0.8 parts per thousand for enamel relative to horn for ruminant mammals. Tooth enamel is a faithful recorder of diet. Its isotopic composition can be used to track changes in the isotopic composition of the atmosphere, determine the fraction of C-3 or C-4 biomass in diets of modern or fossil mammals, distinguish between mammals using different subpathways of C-4 photosynthesis,and identify those mammals whose diet is derived from closed-canopy habitats.
引用
收藏
页码:347 / 363
页数:17
相关论文
共 59 条
[1]   THE ISOTOPIC ECOLOGY OF EAST-AFRICAN MAMMALS [J].
AMBROSE, SH ;
DENIRO, MJ .
OECOLOGIA, 1986, 69 (03) :395-406
[2]   RECONSTRUCTION OF AFRICAN HUMAN DIET USING BONE-COLLAGEN CARBON AND NITROGEN ISOTOPE RATIOS [J].
AMBROSE, SH ;
DENIRO, MJ .
NATURE, 1986, 319 (6051) :321-324
[3]  
[Anonymous], 1987, South African Journal of Science
[4]  
[Anonymous], MOL ARCHAEOLOGY PREH
[6]   Isotopic biogeochemistry (C-13, O-18) of mammalian enamel from African Pleistocene hominid sites [J].
Bocherens, H ;
Koch, PL ;
Mariotti, A ;
Geraads, D ;
Jaeger, JJ .
PALAIOS, 1996, 11 (04) :306-318
[7]   DIET, PHYSIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF FOSSIL MAMMALS AS INFERRED FROM STABLE CARBON AND NITROGEN ISOTOPE BIOGEOCHEMISTRY - IMPLICATIONS FOR PLEISTOCENE BEARS [J].
BOCHERENS, H ;
FIZET, M ;
MARIOTTI, A .
PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, 1994, 107 (3-4) :213-225
[8]  
BOCHERENS H, 1992, CR ACAD SCI II, V315, P1147
[9]  
CASEBEER R L, 1970, East African Wildlife Journal, V8, P25
[10]   Global vegetation change through the Miocene/Pliocene boundary [J].
Cerling, TE ;
Harris, JM ;
MacFadden, BJ ;
Leakey, MG ;
Quade, J ;
Eisenmann, V ;
Ehleringer, JR .
NATURE, 1997, 389 (6647) :153-158