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Technical Note: Calcium and carbon stable isotope ratios as paleodietary indicators
Author(s) -
Melin Amanda D.,
Crowley Brooke E.,
Brown Shaun T.,
Wheatley Patrick V.,
Moritz Gillian L.,
Yit Yu Fred Tuh,
Bernard Henry,
DePaolo Donald J.,
Jacobson Andrew D.,
Dominy Nathaniel J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.22530
Subject(s) - trophic level , stable isotope ratio , taxon , δ13c , isotopes of carbon , isotope , ecology , isotope analysis , mammal , biology , zoology , predation , total organic carbon , physics , quantum mechanics
Calcium stable isotope ratios are hypothesized to vary as a function of trophic level. This premise raises the possibility of using calcium stable isotope ratios to study the dietary behaviors of fossil taxa and to test competing hypotheses on the adaptive origins of euprimates. To explore this concept, we measured the stable isotope composition of contemporary mammals in northern Borneo and northwestern Costa Rica, two communities with functional or phylogenetic relevance to primate origins. We found that bone collagen δ 13 C and δ 15 N values could differentiate trophic levels in each assemblage, a result that justifies the use of these systems to test the predicted inverse relationship between bioapatite δ 13 C and δ 44 Ca values. As expected, taxonomic carnivores (felids) showed a combination of high δ 13 C and low δ 44 Ca values; however, the δ 44 Ca values of other faunivores were indistinguishable from those of primary consumers. We suggest that the trophic insensitivity of most bioapatite δ 44 Ca values is attributable to the negligible calcium content of arthropod prey. Although the present results are inconclusive, the tandem analysis of δ 44 Ca and δ 13 C values in fossils continues to hold promise for informing paleodietary studies and we highlight this potential by drawing attention to the stable isotope composition of the Early Eocene primate Cantius . Am J Phys Anthropol 154:633–643, 2014. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.