Influence of Diet and Age on Carbon Isotope Ratios in Ostrich Eggshell

Schirnding, Yasmin von; Merwe, Nikolaas J. van der; Vogel, J. C.

doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.1982.tb00643.x

Cited by 85 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Because our true dietary endmembers are likely even more distinctive than those that we analyzed, the routing effect would be reduced further. Von Schirnding et al (20) and Schaffner and Swart (18) report data and the suggestion that birds feeding dominantly on protein will have lower (membrane/ carbonate) ⌬␦ 13 C values than birds that feed dominantly on carbohydrates. In carnivores such as penguins, lipid metabolism will supplant carbohydrates as the dominant metabolite.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Emslie

Patterson²

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

139

128

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Stable isotope values of carbon (␦ 13 C) and nitrogen (␦ 15 N) in blood, feathers, eggshell, and bone have been used in seabird studies since the 1980s, providing a valuable source of information on diet, foraging patterns, and migratory behavior in these birds. These techniques can also be applied to fossil material when preservation of bone and other tissues is sufficient. Excavations of abandoned Adé lie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies in Antarctica often provide well preserved remains of bone, feathers, and eggshell dating from hundreds to thousands of years B.P. Herein we present an Ϸ38,000-year time series of ␦ 13 C and ␦ 15 N values of Adé lie penguin eggshell from abandoned colonies located in three major regions of Antarctica. Results indicate an abrupt shift to lowertrophic prey in penguin diets within the past Ϸ200 years. We posit that penguins only recently began to rely on krill as a major portion of their diet, in conjunction with the removal of baleen whales and krill-eating seals during the historic whaling era. Our results support the ''krill surplus'' hypothesis that predicts excess krill availability in the Southern Ocean after this period of exploitation.abandoned colonies ͉ stable isotopes ͉ krill surplus ͉ dietary shift ͉ historic whaling

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Emslie

Patterson²

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

139

128

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“…For example, Druffel and Griffin (1995) made an important observation about the different biochemical pathways that must exist for chicken egg yolks and albumen to differ in A14C relative to the shell. However, their suggestion that this variation was due to the inclusion of dead calcium carbonate in hen feed is challenged by Long, Hendershott and Martin (1983) and von Schirnding, van der Merwe and Vogel (1982), who observed that carbon from such a mineral inclusion would be lost as CO2 due to dissolution of carbonate by stomach acids. Carbon in eggshell is believed to be derived from blood bicarbonate, as is the mineral part of bone apatite, at values relative to respiration of organic nutrients (Long, Hendershott and Martin 1983).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors Influencing ¹⁴C Ages of the Pacific Rat Rattus Exulans

Beavan

Sparks

1997

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. An isotopic database for the Pacific/Polynesian rat (Rattus exulans) and foods that it scavenges is used to examine diet-induced 14C age variation in omnivores. We discuss a suite of 26 e14C determinations and 13C and 15N analysis for modern Pacific/Polynesian rat bone gelatin and available food items from Kapiti Island, New Zealand (40°51'S, 174°75'E). These analyses provide the first isotopic data for modern specimens of the species, collected as part of a larger project to determine potential sources of bias in unexpectedly old 14C age measurements on subfossil specimens of R. exulans from New Zealand. Stable C, N and 14C isotopic and trapping data are used to trace carbon intake via the diet of the rats in each habitat. Data from specimens linked to five specific habitats on the island indicate that modern populations of R. exulans are not in equilibrium with atmospheric values of O14C, being either enriched or depleted relative to the atmospheric curve in 1996/97, the period of collection. The e14C values recorded for R. exulans are associated with diet, and result from variation in e14C values found in animal-protein food items available to a scavenging omnivore. The titer of carbon deviating from atmospheric values is believed to be derived from the essential amino acids in the protein-rich foods of the rat diet.Present evidence suggests that the depletion required to affect 14C ages limits the possibility that diet introduces dramatic offsets from true ages. Marine diets, for example, would have a variable effect on ages for terrestrial omnivores, contraindicating the application of a standard marine correction for such specimens. We suggest that to identify the extent to which diet may influence the 14C age in a given specimen of terrestrial omnivore, the separation and dating of essential amino acids vs. a nonessential amino, such as glycine, be applied.

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“…Reproducibility of an internal standard was ± 0.1‰ for both carbon and oxygen. Birds often consume limestone grit as a source of calcium to improve shell strength; the consumed carbonate is dissolved within the stomach and does not contribute carbon to the eggshell (von Schirnding et al, 1982).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The carbon isotope ratio of eggshell is expected to reflect the carbon isotope composition of the food consumed by the female bird, integrated over the 3-5 day period prior to egg-laying (Hobson, 1995). Despite a paucity of data on isotopic fractionation factors between δ 13 C diet and δ 13 C eggshell in different avian groups, species-specific effects seem to be small with values ranging from 16.2 ± 0.5 ‰ for ostrich eggshell, Struthio camelus (von Schirnding et al, 1982;Johnson et al, 1998) and 15.6 ‰ for Japanese Quail, Coturnix japonica (Hobson, 1995). Schaffner and Swart (1991) observed a smaller fractionation factor (about 10 to 13 ‰) for seabirds that incorporated a high proportion of protein in their diet, suggesting that δ 13 C eggshell may be >3 ‰ lighter in secondary consumers than in primary consumers given the same dietary δ 13 C value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of fossilized eggshells from the Taung hominin locality, Taung, Northwest Province, South Afric

Kuhn

Carlson

Hopley

et al. 2015

Palaeontologia Electronica

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While an avian component within faunal remains from the Dart Deposits, Taung, South Africa, has been discussed for nearly a century, the taxa present have not been identified to species. Here we conduct a systematic analysis of fossilized eggshell fragments in order to document the presence of specific avian taxa at Taung during the Plio-Pleistocene. A comparative analysis of surface morphology and surface curvatures of fragmentary eggshells eliminated all but three extant avian taxa as potential sources for the fossilized fragments: a large eagle, an eagle owl (Bubo sp.) or a guinea fowl (subfamily Numidinae). The likelihood for each of these three taxa as a source is discussed by evaluating surface curvature matches between the fossilized fragments and extant eggshells. The two most complete fossil eggshells recovered from Taung have distinct carbon isotope signatures indicating that they belong to two different, granivorous and carnivorous, guilds. While these identifications contribute to the debate over whether or not there was an avian agent of collection for the Taung fossils, including perhaps the Taung Child, by establishing direct evidence for a raptor component in the Taung faunal assemblage, they cannot address specific predator-prey behaviour.

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Influence of Diet and Age on Carbon Isotope Ratios in Ostrich Eggshell

Cited by 85 publications

References 20 publications

Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Factors Influencing ¹⁴C Ages of the Pacific Rat Rattus Exulans

Identification of fossilized eggshells from the Taung hominin locality, Taung, Northwest Province, South Afric

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Influence of Diet and Age on Carbon Isotope Ratios in Ostrich Eggshell

Cited by 85 publications

References 20 publications

Abrupt recent shift in δ 13 C and δ 15 N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Abrupt recent shift in δ 13 C and δ 15 N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Factors Influencing 14C Ages of the Pacific Rat Rattus Exulans

Identification of fossilized eggshells from the Taung hominin locality, Taung, Northwest Province, South Afric

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Product

Resources

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Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Abrupt recent shift in δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N values in Adélie penguin eggshell in Antarctica

Factors Influencing ¹⁴C Ages of the Pacific Rat Rattus Exulans