Reconstruction of travel history using coupled δ O and Sr/ Sr measurements of hair.

RATIONALE

Oxygen isotope ratios (δ O values) of hair largely reflect features of regional hydrology while strontium isotope ratios ( Sr/ Sr) are thought to reflect bedrock geology; combination of both isotope signatures may provide greater capacity for determining provenance and reconstructing travel history of an organism. To test this hypothesis, we compared the O-Sr isotope profiles of hair from domestic horses with known residency histories.

METHODS

Tail hairs were collected from a pair of horses pastured together for a period of 16 months, one of which lived in a different location for the 8 months prior. Hair samples were washed with solvents to remove external contaminants prior to sequential sampling for δ O and Sr/ Sr analysis via TC/EA-IRMS and MC-ICP-MS, respectively. Hair digests were concentrated and analyzed employing low-flow natural aspiration to measure Sr/ Sr.

RESULTS

Tail hair from the control and transported horses had mean δ O values of 11.25 ± 1.62 ‰ and 10.96 ± 1.53 ‰, and mean Sr/ Sr of 0.7101 ± 0.0006 and 0.7109 ± 0.0020, respectively. The δ O and Sr/ Sr profiles for the control and transported horses were indistinguishable when they were pastured together. The Sr/ Sr profiles were significantly different during the period that the horses were living apart, while the δ O values were indistinguishable during that period.

CONCLUSIONS

By comparing the O-Sr isotope profiles of a control and transported horse, we investigated isotopic signal(s) potentially useful for reconstructing travel histories via high-resolution sequential sampling along single strands of tail hair. Improved analytical capabilities allowed for extremely low Sr abundance samples to be analyzed for Sr/ Sr and proved capable of resolving a horse's movement between distinct regions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.