Tracking mammoths and mastodons; reconstruction of migratory behavior using strontium isotope ratios

Variations in the strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) of tooth enamel are used to examine the migration patterns of late Pleistocene mammoths and mastodons from Florida. An animal's 87Sr/86Sr ratio tracks the ratios of its environment, which vary with differences in bedrock and soil. Consequent...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1999-05, Vol.27 (5), p.439-442
Main Authors: Hoppe, Kathryn A, Koch, Paul L, Carlson, Richard W, Webb, S. David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alkaline earth metals
Animal behavior
Animal migration
Atlantic Coastal Plain
biochemistry
biogeography
Cenozoic
Chordata
Columbia County Florida
Cutler Hammock Florida
Elephantidae
Elephantoidea
enamel
Endangered & extinct species
Eutheria
extinct taxa
faunal list
Florida
Geology
Georgia
Gulf Coastal Plain
Hornsby Springs Florida
isotope ratios
isotopes
living taxa
Mammalia
Mammuthus
Mastodon
Mastodontidae
Mastodontoidea
metals
migration
modern analogs
Page-Ladson Florida
Palm Beach County Florida
Pleistocene
Proboscidea
Quaternary
Quaternary geology
Rock Springs Florida
Rodentia
Sr-87/Sr-86
stable isotopes
strontium
teeth
Tetrapoda
Theria
United States
upper Pleistocene
Vertebrata
West Palm Beach Florida
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Summary:Variations in the strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) of tooth enamel are used to examine the migration patterns of late Pleistocene mammoths and mastodons from Florida. An animal's 87Sr/86Sr ratio tracks the ratios of its environment, which vary with differences in bedrock and soil. Consequently, the environmentally controlled differences in 87Sr/86Sr ratio recorded in mineralized tissue, such as tooth enamel, may be used to reconstruct the movement patterns of an individual. We map variations in local 87Sr/86Sr ratios across modern Florida and Georgia through analysis of rodent teeth, plants, and surface water, then use this map to interpret the movement patterns of extinct mammals. Mastodons from northern and central Florida have higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios than both modern environmental samples from Florida and fossils from nonmigratory species, suggesting that mastodons migrated north into Georgia. Mammoths display ratios similar to those of environmental samples and resident species, suggesting that they did not migrate outside Florida.
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1999)027<0439:TMAMRO>2.3.CO;2