Dataset Information

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information.

ABSTRACT: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of collagen from bone and dentin have frequently been used for dietary reconstruction, but this method is limited by protein preservation. Isotopes of the trace element zinc (Zn) in bioapatite constitute a promising proxy to infer dietary information from extant and extinct vertebrates. The 66Zn/64Zn ratio (expressed as ?66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related ?66Zn values in fossil teeth has not been assessed yet. Here, we analyzed enamel of fossil teeth from the Late Pleistocene (38.4-13.5 ka) mammalian assemblage of the Tam Hay Marklot (THM) cave in northeastern Laos, to reconstruct the food web and assess the preservation of original ?66Zn values. Distinct enamel ?66Zn values of the fossil taxa (?66Zncarnivore < ?66Znomnivore < ?66Znherbivore) according to their expected feeding habits were observed, with a trophic carnivore-herbivore spacing of +0.60‰ and omnivores having intermediate values. Zn and trace element concentration profiles similar to those of modern teeth also indicate minimal impact of diagenesis on the enamel. While further work is needed to explore preservation for settings with different taphonomic conditions, the diet-related ?66Zn values in fossil enamel from THM cave suggest an excellent long-term preservation potential, even under tropical conditions that are well known to be adverse for collagen preservation. Zinc isotopes could thus provide a new tool to assess the diet of fossil hominins and associated fauna, as well as trophic relationships in past food webs.

SUBMITTER: Bourgon N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7060694 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information.

Bourgon Nicolas N Jaouen Klervia K Bacon Anne-Marie AM Jochum Klaus Peter KP Dufour Elise E Duringer Philippe P Ponche Jean-Luc JL Joannes-Boyau Renaud R Boesch Quentin Q Antoine Pierre-Olivier PO Hullot Manon M Weis Ulrike U Schulz-Kornas Ellen E Trost Manuel M Fiorillo Denis D Demeter Fabrice F Patole-Edoumba Elise E Shackelford Laura L LL Dunn Tyler E TE Zachwieja Alexandra A Duangthongchit Somoh S Sayavonkhamdy Thongsa T Sichanthongtip Phonephanh P Sihanam Daovee D Souksavatdy Viengkeo V Hublin Jean-Jacques JJ Tütken Thomas T

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20200218 9

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of collagen from bone and dentin have frequently been used for dietary reconstruction, but this method is limited by protein preservation. Isotopes of the trace element zinc (Zn) in bioapatite constitute a promising proxy to infer dietary information from extant and extinct vertebrates. The 66Zn/64Zn ratio (expressed as δ66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, pres ...[more]

PMID: 32071235

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Project description:Excavations at the Longtan Cave, Hexian, Anhui Province of Eastern China, have yielded several hominin fossils including crania, mandibular fragments, and teeth currently dated to 412 ± 25 ka. While previous studies have focused on the cranial remains, there are no detailed analyses of the dental evidence. In this study, we provide metric and morphological descriptions and comparisons of ten teeth recovered from Hexian, including microcomputed tomography analyses. Our results indicate that the Hexian teeth are metrically and morphologically primitive and overlap with H. ergaster and East Asian Early and mid-Middle Pleistocene hominins in their large dimensions and occlusal complexities. However, the Hexian teeth differ from H. ergaster in features such as conspicuous vertical grooves on the labial/buccal surfaces of the central incisor and the upper premolar, the crown outline shapes of upper and lower molars and the numbers, shapes, and divergences of the roots. Despite their close geological ages, the Hexian teeth are also more primitive than Zhoukoudian specimens, and resemble Sangiran Early Pleistocene teeth. In addition, no typical Neanderthal features have been identified in the Hexian sample. Our study highlights the metrical and morphological primitive status of the Hexian sample in comparison to contemporaneous or even earlier populations of Asia. Based on this finding, we suggest that the primitive-derived gradients of the Asian hominins cannot be satisfactorily fitted along a chronological sequence, suggesting complex evolutionary scenarios with the coexistence and/or survival of different lineages in Eurasia. Hexian could represent the persistence in time of a H. erectus group that would have retained primitive features that were lost in other Asian populations such as Zhoukoudian or Panxian Dadong. Our study expands the metrical and morphological variations known for the East Asian hominins before the mid-Middle Pleistocene and warns about the possibility that the Asian hominin variability may have been taxonomically oversimplified.

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Dataset Information

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information.

Publications

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information.

Similar Datasets

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