Cerling Thure E, Harris John M
Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA e-mail:
The George C. Page Museum, 5801 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036, USA, , , , , , US.
Oecologia. 1999 Aug;120(3):347-363. doi: 10.1007/s004420050868.
The isotope enrichment ɛ* of C between tooth enamel of large ruminant mammals and their diet is 14.1 ± 0.5‰. This value was obtained by analyzing both the dental enamel of a variety of wild and captive mammals and the vegetation that comprised their foodstuffs. This isotope enrichment factor applies to a wide variety of ruminant mammals. Non-ruminant ungulates have a similar isotope enrichment, although our data cannot determine if it is significantly different. We also found a C isotope enrichment ɛ* of 3.1 ± 0.7‰ for horn relative to diet, and 11.1 ± 0.8‰ for enamel relative to horn for ruminant mammals. Tooth enamel is a faithful recorder of diet. Its isotopic composition can be used to track changes in the isotopic composition of the atmosphere, determine the fraction of C or C biomass in diets of modern or fossil mammals, distinguish between mammals using different subpathways of C photosynthesis,and identify those mammals whose diet is derived from closed-canopy habitats.
大型反刍哺乳动物牙釉质与它们食物之间碳的同位素富集ɛ为14.1±0.5‰。该数值是通过分析多种野生和圈养哺乳动物的牙釉质以及构成它们食物的植被而获得的。这个同位素富集系数适用于多种反刍哺乳动物。非反刍有蹄类动物有类似的同位素富集情况，尽管我们的数据无法确定其是否有显著差异。我们还发现，反刍哺乳动物角相对于食物的碳同位素富集ɛ为3.1±0.7‰，牙釉质相对于角的碳同位素富集ɛ*为11.1±0.8‰。牙釉质是饮食的忠实记录者。其同位素组成可用于追踪大气同位素组成的变化、确定现代或化石哺乳动物食物中碳或碳生物量的比例、区分利用不同碳光合作用亚途径的哺乳动物，以及识别那些食物来源于封闭冠层栖息地的哺乳动物。
