Weber Michael, Weber Katrin, Winkler Daniela E, Tütken Thomas
Institute for Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany.
Zoological Institute, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Proc Biol Sci. 2025 Jan;292(2038):20242002. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2024.2002. Epub 2025 Jan 8.
Dietary preferences of extant reptiles can be directly observed, whereas diet reconstruction of extinct species typically relies on morphological or dental features. More specific information about the ingested diet is contained in the chemistry of hard tissues. Stable isotopes of calcium and strontium show systematic fractionations between diet and skeletal bioapatite, which is applied for diet and trophic-level reconstructions of extant and extinct vertebrate species. Here, we present the first comprehensive analysis of stable calcium and strontium isotopes of bones and teeth from 28 extant reptiles, including lepidosaurs and archosaurs (crocodilians) with distinct herbivorous to faunivorous feeding behaviour, establishing a dietary reference frame. Both calcium and strontium isotopes exhibit systematic offsets between dietary groups, with insectivores having the highest, herbivores intermediate and carnivores the lowest calcium and strontium isotope values. Although the isotopic trophic-level effect is similar to mammals, the absolute calcium isotope values in reptiles are more positive in each diet category. Combining isotopic data with dental microwear texture analysis enables a refined understanding of reptile feeding ecology and the identification of durophagous diets. This toolbox opens new possibilities for improved dietary reconstructions of extinct taxa, such as dinosaurs and other non-mammalian species in the fossil record.
现存爬行动物的饮食偏好可以直接观察到,而灭绝物种的饮食重建通常依赖于形态学或牙齿特征。关于摄入食物的更具体信息包含在硬组织的化学组成中。钙和锶的稳定同位素在饮食和骨骼生物磷灰石之间表现出系统性分馏,这被应用于现存和已灭绝脊椎动物物种的饮食和营养级重建。在此,我们首次对28种现存爬行动物的骨骼和牙齿中的钙和锶稳定同位素进行了全面分析,这些爬行动物包括具有从食草到食虫等不同摄食行为的鳞龙类和主龙类(鳄鱼),从而建立了一个饮食参考框架。钙和锶同位素在不同饮食组之间都表现出系统性差异,食虫动物的钙和锶同位素值最高,食草动物居中,食肉动物最低。尽管同位素营养级效应与哺乳动物相似,但在每个饮食类别中,爬行动物的绝对钙同位素值更偏正。将同位素数据与牙齿微磨损纹理分析相结合,能够更精确地理解爬行动物的觅食生态学,并识别出食硬食物的饮食。这个工具包为改进对已灭绝类群(如化石记录中的恐龙和其他非哺乳动物物种)的饮食重建开辟了新的可能性。