Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 103, Issue 30, Pages 11201-11205Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0604719103
Keywords
bioapatite; East Africa; oxygen-18; mammals; water use
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We use the oxygen isotopic composition of tooth enamel from multiple mammalian taxa across eastern Africa to present a proxy for aridity. Here we report tooth enamel delta O-18 values of 14 species from 18 locations and classify them according to their isotopic sensitivity to environmental aridity. The species are placed into two groups, evaporation sensitive (ES) and evaporation insensitive (EI). Tooth enamel delta O-18 values of ES animals increase with aridity, whereas the tooth enamel delta O-18 values of EI animals track local meteoric water delta O-18 values, demonstrating that bioapatite delta O-18 values of animals with different behaviors and physiologies record different aspects of the same environment. The enrichment between tooth enamel delta O-18 values of ES and El animals records the degree of O-18 enrichment between evaporated water (ingested water or body water) and source water, which increases with environmental aridity. Recognition of the ES-EI distinction creates the opportunity to use the O-18 composition of bioapatite as an index of terrestrial aridity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available