Diet and habitat of the saiga antelope during the late Quaternary using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios

Saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica) is one of the typical late Pleistocene species of the cold and arid mammoth steppe that covered a large area of northern hemisphere. The species is currently endangered and persists only in small areas of Central Asian steppe and desert ecosystems. The investigation of the ecology of the Pleistocene saiga using stable isotope ratios (delta C-13, delta N-15) aimed to decipher how different their diet and habitat were from those observed nowadays in relict populations. Up to 76 samples of bone collagen of ancient saiga from Western Europe, Siberia and Eastern Beringia were analysed and compared with 52 samples of hair and bone collagen of modern specimens from Kazahkstan, Russia and Mongolia. The delta C-13 values of the ancient saiga do not exhibit a clear trend over time. They cover the same range of values as the modern ones, from a C3-dominated to a C3-C4-dominated mixed diet (including probably Chenopodiaceae). In contrast, the delta N-15 values of fossil saigas are more variable and lower on average than the extant ones. The lowest delta N-15 values of ancient saiga are found around the Last Glacial Maximum, reflecting the influence of the cold conditions at that time. On the other hand, fossil saiga occupying the same regions as the historical and modern populations exhibit high delta N-15 values similar to the modern ones, confirming ecological continuity over time. Modern saiga is thus occupying just one of its potential diverse habitats they used in the past. Therefore, the extant saiga is not a refugee species confined to a suboptimal habitat. During the late Pleistocene, the saiga occupied a separate niche compared with the other ungulates of the mammoth steppe. However, this species could also adapt to a lichen-dominated diet normally seen in reindeer, leading to an isotopic overlap between the two species in south-western France and Alaska around the Last Glacial Maximum. This adaptation allowed a geographical expansion that does not correspond to a habitat-tracking episode. Hence, the realized niche currently observed for the saiga is reduced compared with their potential capacity for adaptation, a crucially important factor for the conservation of this endangered species. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.