Abstract
The carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions of the tooth enamel of mammals, including deer, wild pigs, buffaloes and domesticated pigs from the Shunshanji site, Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, China, were analyzed to reconstruct the mammals’ ecoenvironments and diets, and to evaluate seasonal variations in the study area. Carbon isotopic compositions of buck samples revealed that the deer ate completely C3 plants and the environments they inhabited were relatively open and that wild pigs ate primarily C3 plants. Oxygen isotopic compositions indicated that the body sources of these two mammals were different, i.e. the deer and pigs lived in different niches within a relatively similar ecosystem. Modern domesticated pigs were isotopically more positive than the ancient wild pigs in carbon δ 13C values, suggesting the former ingested more C3 plants relative to the latter. Although the δ 18O data showed modern domesticated and ancient pigs had similar oxygen isotope compositions, their water sources were different. The carbon and oxygen isotopic patterns of premolar microsamples of ancient and modern buffaloes indicated that the plants ingested by the ancient buffalo varied with seasonal shifts, but plants ingested by the modern buffalo were relatively constant. The eco-environment of the modern buffalo was more open, warmer and drier than eco-environment of the ancient buffalo, which may be the result of the deforestation and other human activities. Ancient and modern seasonal changes were clearly recorded in the isotopic patterns and the seasonal variation amplitudes of the ancient and modern eco-environments were similar.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Koch P L, Hoppe K A, Webb S D. The isotopic ecology of late Pleistocene mammals in North America: Part 1. Florida. Chem Geol, 1998, 152: 119–138
Passey B H, Cerling T E, Perkings M E, et al. Environmental change in the Great Plains: An isotopic record from fossil horses. J Geol, 2002, 110: 123–140
Matthew J K, Margaret J S, John W V. Variability in oxygen isotope compositions of herbivore teeth: Reflections of seasonality or developmental physiology? Chem Geol, 1998, 152: 97–112
Margaret J S, Holly R, Kris H. Paleoenvironment of Australopithecus anamensis at Allia Bay, East Turkana, Kenya: Evidence from mammalian herbivore enamel stable isotope. J Anthropol Archaeol, 2003, 22: 200–207
Hoppe K A, Stover S M, Pascoe J R, et al. Patterns of tooth enamel biomineralization in modern domestic horses: Implications for isotopic microsampling. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2004, 206: 355–365
Jean R B, Antoine Z, Gildas M, et al. Diets of modern and late Miocene hippopotamids: Evidence from carbon isotope composition and micro-wear of tooth enamel. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2005, 221: 153–174
William H S, Reese E B, David A E. Reflections of surface water, seasonality and climate in stable oxygen isotopes from tyrannosaurid tooth enamel. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2004, 206: 239–256
Balasse M, Smith A B, Ambrose S H, et al. Determining sheep birth seasonality by analysis of tooth enamel oxygen isotope ratios: The Late Stone Age site of Kasteelberg (South Africa). J Archaeol Sci, 2003, 30: 205–215
Passey, B H, Cerling T E. Tooth enamel mineralization in ungulates: Implications for recovering a primary isotopic time-series. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 2002, 66: 3225–3234
Antoine Z, Marie B, William P P. The reconstruction of mammal individual history: Refining high-resolution isotope record in bovine tooth dentine. J Archaeol Sci, 2006, 33: 1177–1187
Kathryn A H, Sue S, Ronald A. The implications for paleodietary and paleoclimatic reconstructions of intrapopulation variability in the oxygen and carbon isotopes of teeth from modern feral horses. Quat Res, 2005, 64: 138–146
Antoine Z, André M, Christophe L, et al. Intra-tooth isotope variations in late Miocene bovid enamel from Afghanistan: Paleobiological, taphonomic, and climatic implications. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2002, 186: 145–161
Felicitas B W, Hervé B, André M, et al. Methodological and archaeological implications of intra-tooth isotopic variations (δ 13C, δ 18O) in herbivores from Ain Ghazal (Jordan, Neolithic). J Archaeol Sci, 1999, 26: 697–704
Deng T, Xue X X. Quantitative relationship between oxygen isotopic composition of horse teeth and climatic signals (in Chinese). Adv Earth Sci, 1996, 11: 481–486
Deng T, Xue X X, Dong J S. Stable carbon isotopic record of fossil for the cooling effect in northern China during the Quaternary (in Chinese). Chin Sci Bull (Chin Ver), 1998, 43: 1897–1990
Wei M R, Guo J W. The stable carbon isotopes in the tooth enamel of three species of the middle Miocene fossil herbivorous mammals from Tongxin, Ningxia, Chna (in Chinese). Vert Pal ASI, 2002, 40: 300–304
Deng T, Li Y M. Vegetational ecotype of the Gyirong Basin in Tibet, China and its response in stable carbon isotopes of mammal tooth enamel. Chin Sci Bull, 2005, 50: 1009–1113
Li Y M, Liu D S, Han J M, et al. The relationship between vegetation and δ 13C value of tooth enamel in two kinds of meadows, Northern China (in Chinese). Bull Min Petrol Geochem, 2003, 22: 104–107
Wang Y, Deng T. A 25 m.y. isotopic record of paleodiet and environmental changefrom fossil mammals and paleosols from the NE margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2005, 236: 322–338
Gaboardi M, Deng T, Wang Y. Middle Pleistocene climate and habitat change at Zhoukoudian, China, from the carbon and oxygen isotopic record from herbivore tooth enamel. Quat Res, 2005, 63: 329–338
Tian X S, Zhu C, Xu X W, et al. Reconstructing past subsistence patterns on Zhongba Site using stable carbon and oxygen isotopes of fossil tooth enamel. Chin Sci Bull, 2008, 53(Suppl): 87–94
Lee-Thorp J A, Merwe N J. Carbon isotope analysis of fossil bone apatite. S Afr J Sci, 1987, 83: 712–715
Merwe N J, Medina E. Photosynthesis and 13C/12C ratios in Amazon rain forests. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1989, 53: 1091–1094
Wright L E, Schwarcz H P. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in human tooth enamel: Identifying breastfeeding and weaning in prehistory. Amer J Physl Anthropol, 1998, 106: 1–18
Luz B, Kolodny Y. Oxygen isotope variations in phosphate of biogenic apatites: IV. Mammal teeth and bones. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1985, 75: 29–36
Stuart-Williams H L Q, Schwarcz H P. Oxygen isotopic determination of climatic variation using phosphate from beaver bone, tooth enamel, and dentine. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 1997, 61: 2539–2550
Zin-Maung-Maung-Thei, Masanaru T, Hikaru U, et al. Stable isotope analysis of the tooth enamel of Chaingzauk mammalian fauna (late Neogene, Myanmar) and its implication to paleoenvironment and paleogeography. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2011, 300: 11–22
Rebecca A F, Rainer G, Karen P, et al. Stable-isotope microprofiling of wombat tooth enamel records seasonal changes in vegetation and environmental conditions in eastern Australia. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2008, 269: 66–77
Robert S F, Elizabeth A H, Adina P. Stable isotopes reveal seasonal competition for resources between late Pleistocene bison (Bison) and horse (Equus) from Rancho La Brea, southern California. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2009, 271: 153–160
Antoine Z, Marie B, William P P. High-resolution 13C intratooth profiles in bovine enamel: Implications for mineralization pattern and isotopic attenuation. Geochim Cosmochim Acta, 2005, 69: 3631–3642
Wang Y, Cerling T E, MacFadden B J. Fossil horses and carbon isotopes: New evidence for Cenozoic dietary, habitat, and ecosystem changes in North America. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 1994, 107: 269–279
Paul L K, Kathryn A H, David W. The isotopic ecology of late Pleistocene mammals in North America. Part 1. Florida. Chem Geol, 1998, 152: 119–138
Laura D, Jaime C G, Stephen T G. Multiproxy reconstruction of the palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironment of the Middle Miocene Somosaguas site (Madrid, Spain) using herbivore dental enamel. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2009, 272: 53–68
David L F, Daniel C F. Dietary reconstruction of Miocene Gomphotherium (Mammalia, Proboscidea) from the Great Plains region, USA, based on the carbon isotope composition of tusk and molar enamel. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2004, 206: 311–335
MacFadden B J, Cerling T E. Mammalian herbivore communities, ancient feeding ecology, and carbon isotopes: A 10-million-year sequence from the Neogene of Florida. J Vertebr Paleontol, 1996, 16: 103–115
Mabry G, Deng T, Yang W. Middle Pleistocene climate and habitat change at Zhoukoudian, China, from the carbon and oxygen isotopic record from herbivore tooth enamel. Quat Res, 2005, 63: 329–338
Thure E C, John M H, Stanley H A, et al. Dietary and environmental reconstruction with stable isotope analyses of herbivore tooth enamel from the Miocene locality of Fort Ternan, Kenya. J Hu Evol, 1997, 33: 635–650
Fricke H C, O’Neil J R. Inter- and intra-tooth variation in the oxygen isotope composition of mammalian tooth enamel phosphate: Implications for palaeoclimatological and palaeobiological research. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 1996, 126: 91–99
Matt S, Julia A L T. Oxygen isotopes in enamel carbonate and their ecological significance. J Archaeol Sci, 1999, 26: 723–728
Feranec R S, MacFadden B J. Evolution of the grazing niche in Pleistocene mammals from Florida: Evidence from stable isotopes. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2000, 162: 155–169
Iacumin P, Nikolaev V, Genoni L, et al. Stable isotope analyses of mammal skeletal remains of Holocene age from European Russia: A way to trace dietary and environmental changes. Geobios, 2004, 37: 37–47
Rebecca A F, Rainer G, Karen P, et al. Stable-isotope microprofiling of wombat tooth enamel records seasonal changes in vegetation and environmental conditions in eastern Australia. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2008, 269: 66–77
Marie B, Hervé B, André M, et al. Detection of dietary changes by intra-tooth carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis: An experimental study of dentine collagen of cattle (Bos taurus). J Archaeol Sci, 2001, 28: 235–245
Loïc S, Julia A L. Palaeoecology of late Early Miocene fauna in the Namib based on 13C/12C and 18O/16O ratios of tooth enamel and ratite eggshell carbonate. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol, 2009, 277: 191–198
Tom H B, Stanley H A. Seasonal variation in kangaroo tooth enamel oxygen and carbon isotopes in southern Australia. Quat Res, 2012, 78: 256–265
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Rights and permissions
This article is published under an open access license. Please check the 'Copyright Information' section either on this page or in the PDF for details of this license and what re-use is permitted. If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and re-use information, please contact the Rights and Permissions team.
About this article
Cite this article
Tian, X., Zhu, C., Shui, T. et al. Diets, eco-environments and seasonal variations recorded in the oxygen and carbon isotopic compositions of mammal tooth enamel from the Shunshanji site, Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, China. Chin. Sci. Bull. 58, 3788–3795 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5894-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-013-5894-z