Diet reconstruction of ancient brown bears (Ursus arctos) from Mont Ventoux (France) using bone collagen stable isotope biogeochemistry (13C, 15N)

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 576-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hervé Bocherens ◽  
Alain Argant ◽  
Jacqueline Argant ◽  
Daniel Billiou ◽  
Evelyne Crégut-Bonnoure ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Diet Reconstruction ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Open Environment ◽  
Food Items ◽  
Nitrogen Isotopic Composition ◽  
Isotopic Variations

A very rich assemblage of ancient brown bears (Ursus arctos arctos Linnaeus, 1758) from Mont Ventoux caves (France) has been investigated using carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of bone collagen. The isotopic data showed that these bears were feeding in an open environment and consumed mainly plant food items. The access to livestock meat appeared to have been much more limited for these ancient brown bears than for 20th-century Pyrenean bears, suggesting that husbandry patterns had kept bears away from domestic herds. The isotopic variations observed are large according to the ontogenic stage of the bears when they died, which could be accounted for by the isotopic changes that occur during hibernation of the lactating female bear and by different time periods averaged in bone collagen, and without the need to involve different food resources for cubs relative to adult bears.

Use of stable isotopes to determine diets of living and extinct bears

1996 ◽  
Vol 74 (11) ◽  
pp. 2080-2088 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. V. Hilderbrand ◽  
S. D. Farley ◽  
C. T. Robbins ◽  
T. A. Hanley ◽  
K. Titus ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Isotopic Fractionation ◽  
Columbia River ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Isotopic Signature ◽  
Grizzly Bears ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
River Drainage ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Isotopic Analyses

The potential use of stable-isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N) to estimate bear diets was assessed in 40-day feeding trials using American black bears (Ursus americanus). Bear plasma and red blood cells have half-lives of ~4 days and ~28 days, respectively. The isotopic signature of bear plasma is linearly related to that of the diet, and with the exception of adipose tissue, there is no isotopic fractionation across bear tissues. Isotopic analyses were used to estimate the diets of three bear populations: Pleistocene cave bears (U. speleaus) in Europe, grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) inhabiting the Columbia River drainage prior to 1931, and brown bears (U. arctos) of Chichagof and Admiralty islands, Alaska. Cave bears were omnivores with terrestrially produced meat contributing from 41 to 78% (58 ± 14%) of their metabolized carbon and nitrogen. Salmon contributed from 33 to 90% (58 ± 23%) of the metabolized carbon and nitrogen in grizzly bears from the Columbia River drainage. Finally, most brown bears on Chichagof and Admiralty islands feed upon salmon during the late summer and fall; however, a subpopulation of bears exists that does not utilize salmon.

scholarly journals Dietary Reconstruction of the Okhotsk Culture of Hokkaido, Japan, Based on Nitrogen Composition of Amino Acids: Implications for Correction of 14C Marine Reservoir Effects on Human Bones

Radiocarbon ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 671-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi I Naito ◽  
Yoshito Chikaraishi ◽  
Naohiko Ohkouchi ◽  
Hitoshi Mukai ◽  
Yasuyuki Shibata ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Isotopic Composition ◽  
Glutamic Acid ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Fur Seal ◽  
Nitrogen Isotopic Composition

The relative contribution of marine-derived carbon in the ancient diet is essential for correcting the marine reservoir effect on the radiocarbon age of archaeological human remains. In this study, we evaluated the marine protein consumption of 3 human populations from the Okhotsk culture (about AD 550–1200) in Hokkaido, Japan, based on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic compositions in bulk bone collagen as well as the nitrogen isotopic composition of glutamic acid and phenylalanine. Despite the similarity of carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of bulk collagens, nitrogen isotopic composition of their constituent amino acids suggests differences in fur seal contributions among northern Hokkaido (0–24% for Kafukai 1, 0–10% for Hamanaka 2) and eastern Hokkaido (78–80% for Moyoro) populations. It suggests that nitrogen composition of glutamic acid and phenylalanine could provide a detailed picture of ancient human subsistence.

scholarly journals Stable isotopes reveal intensive pig husbandry practices in the middle Yellow River region by the Yangshao period (7000–5000 BP)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. e0257524
Author(s):  
Quan Zhang ◽  
Yanfeng Hou ◽  
Xinwei Li ◽  
Amy Styring ◽  
Julia Lee-Thorp
Keyword(s):  
Yellow River ◽  
Isotope Composition ◽  
Nitrogen Isotope ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Nitrogen Isotope Composition ◽  
River Region ◽  
Pig Husbandry ◽  
Yangshao Period

It is well-known that pigs (Sus scrofa) were domesticated very early in Neolithic China, but far less is known about the processes by which pig husbandry intensified so that pork became the most important animal protein for humans are less clear. Here, we explore pig feeding practices using the carbon and nitrogen isotope composition of bone collagen, focusing on developments in pig husbandry during the Yangshao period (7000–5000 BP) in the middle Yellow River region of China, and at the site of Xipo (5800–5000 BP) in particular. The results show that the diets of domestic pigs at Xipo were dominated by millet foods. Comparisons with other Yangshao sites in the region show a trend of increasing millet foddering for pigs throughout the Yangshao period. These results, and comparisons of the isotopic data for pigs against those for humans from the Xipo cemetery (5300–5000 BP), suggest that pigs were closely managed by humans. The evidence points to an intensification of Neolithic pig husbandry in the middle Yellow River region from this period.

The sensitivity of Neotoma to climate change and biodiversity loss over the late Quaternary

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Catalina P. Tomé ◽  
S. Kathleen Lyons ◽  
Seth D. Newsome ◽  
Felisa A. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Late Quaternary ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Biodiversity Loss ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Cam Plants ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene

Abstract The late Quaternary in North America was marked by highly variable climate and considerable biodiversity loss including a megafaunal extinction event at the terminal Pleistocene. Here, we focus on changes in body size and diet in Neotoma (woodrats) in response to these ecological perturbations using the fossil record from the Edwards Plateau (Texas) across the past 20,000 years. Body mass was estimated using measurements of fossil teeth and diet was quantified using stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen from fossil bone collagen. Prior to ca. 7000 cal yr BP, maximum mass was positively correlated to precipitation and negatively correlated to temperature. Independently, mass was negatively correlated to community composition, becoming more similar to modern over time. Neotoma diet in the Pleistocene was primarily sourced from C3 plants, but became progressively more reliant on C4 (and potentially CAM) plants through the Holocene. Decreasing population mass and higher C4/CAM consumption was associated with a transition from a mesic to xeric landscape. Our results suggest that Neotoma responded to climatic variability during the terminal Pleistocene through changes in body size, while changes in resource availability during the Holocene likely led to shifts in the relative abundance of different Neotoma species in the community.

Molecular identification of Taenia spp. in wolves (Canis lupus), brown bears (Ursus arctos) and cervids from North Europe and Alaska

2011 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antti Lavikainen ◽  
Sauli Laaksonen ◽  
Kimberlee Beckmen ◽  
Antti Oksanen ◽  
Marja Isomursu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Identification ◽  
Canis Lupus ◽  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bears

scholarly journals Long-Term Safety of Intraperitoneal Radio Transmitter Implants in Brown Bears (Ursus arctos)

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon M. Arnemo ◽  
Bjørnar Ytrehus ◽  
Knut Madslien ◽  
Jonas Malmsten ◽  
Sven Brunberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ursus Arctos ◽  
Brown Bears ◽  
Radio Transmitter
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