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

Nicolas Bourgon; Klervia Jaouen; Anne Marie Bacon; Klaus Peter Jochum; Elise Dufour; Philippe Duringer; Jean Luc Ponche; Renaud Joannes-Boyau; Quentin Boesch; Pierre Olivier Antoine; Manon Hullot; Ulrike Weis; Ellen Schulz-Kornas; Manuel Trost; Denis Fiorillo; Fabrice Demeter; Elise Patole-Edoumba; Laura L. Shackelford; Tyler E. Dunn; Alexandra Zachwieja; Somoh Duangthongchit; Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy; Phonephanh Sichanthongtip; Daovee Sihanam; Viengkeo Souksavatdy; Jean Jacques Hublin; Thomas Tütken

doi:10.1073/pnas.1911744117

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

Nicolas Bourgon, Klervia Jaouen, Anne Marie Bacon, Klaus Peter Jochum, Elise Dufour, Philippe Duringer, Jean Luc Ponche, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Quentin Boesch, Pierre Olivier Antoine, Manon Hullot, Ulrike Weis, Ellen Schulz-Kornas, Manuel Trost, Denis Fiorillo, Fabrice Demeter, Elise Patole-Edoumba, Laura L. Shackelford, Tyler E. Dunn, Alexandra ZachwiejaSomoh Duangthongchit, Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy, Phonephanh Sichanthongtip, Daovee Sihanam, Viengkeo Souksavatdy, Jean Jacques Hublin, Thomas Tütken

Biomedical Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

49 Scopus citations

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 δ 66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related δ 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 δ 66Zn values. Distinct enamel δ 66Zn values of the fossil taxa (δ 66Zn carnivore < δ 66Zn omnivore < δ 66Zn herbivore) 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 δ 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.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	4675-4681
Number of pages	7
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	117
Issue number	9
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911744117
State	Published - Mar 3 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank K. Schilling and B. Brumme (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) as well as O. Tombret (UMR 7209 AASPE) for technical support; S. Steinbrenner (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) who performed the C and N analysis; R. Mundry (Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for his valuable help and insight with the LMM; R. Barr, C. Zickert, L. Därr, A. Salzer, and L. Schymanski (Multimedia Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for their help with pictures and figure presentation; Christine Lefèvre, Joséphine Lesur, and Aurélie Verguin of the UMR 7209 (AASPE), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, for the agreement and access to the mammal collection; and M. Sponheimer and P. Telouk for their helpful discussions. We would like to acknowledge the support and thank the Max Planck Society and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (“PALÄODIET” Project 378496604) for funding this study. T.T. and K.J. received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Grant Agreements 681450 and 803676, respectively. Funding for the excavation of the Marklot cave in 2015 was provided by the University of Strasbourg (Unistra/EOST UMR 7516) and the Unité Propre de Recherche (UPR) 2147 of CNRS Dynamique de l’évolution humaine, France, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Finally, we would like also to thank V.S. and S. Luangaphay of the Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information and Culture in Vientiane, Laos, for their authorization to study the Marklot fauna.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Diagenesis
Diet
Stable isotopes
Trophic ecology
Zinc
Hominidae/physiology
Fossils
Asia, Southeastern
Animals
Diet, Paleolithic
Zinc Isotopes/analysis
Caves
Collagen/chemistry
Tooth/chemistry

PubMed: MeSH publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Journal Article

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10.1073/pnas.1911744117

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Bourgon, N., Jaouen, K., Bacon, A. M., Jochum, K. P., Dufour, E., Duringer, P., Ponche, J. L., Joannes-Boyau, R., Boesch, Q., Antoine, P. O., Hullot, M., Weis, U., Schulz-Kornas, E., Trost, M., Fiorillo, D., Demeter, F., Patole-Edoumba, E., Shackelford, L. L., Dunn, T. E., ... Tütken, T. (2020). Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(9), 4675-4681. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911744117

Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information. / Bourgon, Nicolas; Jaouen, Klervia; Bacon, Anne Marie et al.
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 117, No. 9, 03.03.2020, p. 4675-4681.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Bourgon, N, Jaouen, K, Bacon, AM, Jochum, KP, Dufour, E, Duringer, P, Ponche, JL, Joannes-Boyau, R, Boesch, Q, Antoine, PO, Hullot, M, Weis, U, Schulz-Kornas, E, Trost, M, Fiorillo, D, Demeter, F, Patole-Edoumba, E, Shackelford, LL, Dunn, TE, Zachwieja, A, Duangthongchit, S, Sayavonkhamdy, T, Sichanthongtip, P, Sihanam, D, Souksavatdy, V, Hublin, JJ & Tütken, T 2020, 'Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 117, no. 9, pp. 4675-4681. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1911744117

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title = "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 δ 66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related δ 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 δ 66Zn values. Distinct enamel δ 66Zn values of the fossil taxa (δ 66Zn carnivore < δ 66Zn omnivore < δ 66Zn herbivore) 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 δ 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. ",

keywords = "Diagenesis, Diet, Stable isotopes, Trophic ecology, Zinc, Hominidae/physiology, Fossils, Asia, Southeastern, Animals, Diet, Paleolithic, Zinc Isotopes/analysis, Caves, Collagen/chemistry, Tooth/chemistry",

author = "Nicolas Bourgon and Klervia Jaouen and Bacon, {Anne Marie} and Jochum, {Klaus Peter} and Elise Dufour and Philippe Duringer and Ponche, {Jean Luc} and Renaud Joannes-Boyau and Quentin Boesch and Antoine, {Pierre Olivier} and Manon Hullot and Ulrike Weis and Ellen Schulz-Kornas and Manuel Trost and Denis Fiorillo and Fabrice Demeter and Elise Patole-Edoumba and Shackelford, {Laura L.} and Dunn, {Tyler E.} and Alexandra Zachwieja and Somoh Duangthongchit and Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy and Phonephanh Sichanthongtip and Daovee Sihanam and Viengkeo Souksavatdy and Hublin, {Jean Jacques} and Thomas T{\"u}tken",

note = "Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank K. Schilling and B. Brumme (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) as well as O. Tombret (UMR 7209 AASPE) for technical support; S. Steinbrenner (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) who performed the C and N analysis; R. Mundry (Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for his valuable help and insight with the LMM; R. Barr, C. Zickert, L. D{\"a}rr, A. Salzer, and L. Schymanski (Multimedia Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for their help with pictures and figure presentation; Christine Lef{\`e}vre, Jos{\'e}phine Lesur, and Aur{\'e}lie Verguin of the UMR 7209 (AASPE), Mus{\'e}um National d{\textquoteright}Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, for the agreement and access to the mammal collection; and M. Sponheimer and P. Telouk for their helpful discussions. We would like to acknowledge the support and thank the Max Planck Society and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (“PAL{\"A}ODIET” Project 378496604) for funding this study. T.T. and K.J. received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union{\textquoteright}s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Grant Agreements 681450 and 803676, respectively. Funding for the excavation of the Marklot cave in 2015 was provided by the University of Strasbourg (Unistra/EOST UMR 7516) and the Unit{\'e} Propre de Recherche (UPR) 2147 of CNRS Dynamique de l{\textquoteright}{\'e}volution humaine, France, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Finally, we would like also to thank V.S. and S. Luangaphay of the Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information and Culture in Vientiane, Laos, for their authorization to study the Marklot fauna. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.",

year = "2020",

month = mar,

day = "3",

doi = "10.1073/pnas.1911744117",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "117",

pages = "4675--4681",

journal = "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America",

issn = "0027-8424",

publisher = "National Academy of Sciences",

number = "9",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Zinc isotopes in Late Pleistocene fossil teeth from a Southeast Asian cave setting preserve paleodietary information

AU - Bourgon, Nicolas

AU - Jaouen, Klervia

AU - Bacon, Anne Marie

AU - Jochum, Klaus Peter

AU - Dufour, Elise

AU - Duringer, Philippe

AU - Ponche, Jean Luc

AU - Joannes-Boyau, Renaud

AU - Boesch, Quentin

AU - Antoine, Pierre Olivier

AU - Hullot, Manon

AU - Weis, Ulrike

AU - Schulz-Kornas, Ellen

AU - Trost, Manuel

AU - Fiorillo, Denis

AU - Demeter, Fabrice

AU - Patole-Edoumba, Elise

AU - Shackelford, Laura L.

AU - Dunn, Tyler E.

AU - Zachwieja, Alexandra

AU - Duangthongchit, Somoh

AU - Sayavonkhamdy, Thongsa

AU - Sichanthongtip, Phonephanh

AU - Sihanam, Daovee

AU - Souksavatdy, Viengkeo

AU - Hublin, Jean Jacques

AU - Tütken, Thomas

N1 - Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank K. Schilling and B. Brumme (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) as well as O. Tombret (UMR 7209 AASPE) for technical support; S. Steinbrenner (Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) who performed the C and N analysis; R. Mundry (Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for his valuable help and insight with the LMM; R. Barr, C. Zickert, L. Därr, A. Salzer, and L. Schymanski (Multimedia Department, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig) for their help with pictures and figure presentation; Christine Lefèvre, Joséphine Lesur, and Aurélie Verguin of the UMR 7209 (AASPE), Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, in Paris, for the agreement and access to the mammal collection; and M. Sponheimer and P. Telouk for their helpful discussions. We would like to acknowledge the support and thank the Max Planck Society and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (“PALÄODIET” Project 378496604) for funding this study. T.T. and K.J. received funding by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program Grant Agreements 681450 and 803676, respectively. Funding for the excavation of the Marklot cave in 2015 was provided by the University of Strasbourg (Unistra/EOST UMR 7516) and the Unité Propre de Recherche (UPR) 2147 of CNRS Dynamique de l’évolution humaine, France, and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. Finally, we would like also to thank V.S. and S. Luangaphay of the Department of National Heritage, Ministry of Information and Culture in Vientiane, Laos, for their authorization to study the Marklot fauna. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/3/3

Y1 - 2020/3/3

N2 - 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 δ 66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related δ 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 δ 66Zn values. Distinct enamel δ 66Zn values of the fossil taxa (δ 66Zn carnivore < δ 66Zn omnivore < δ 66Zn herbivore) 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 δ 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.

AB - 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 δ 66Zn value) shows an enrichment of the heavy isotope in mammals along each trophic step. However, preservation of diet-related δ 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 δ 66Zn values. Distinct enamel δ 66Zn values of the fossil taxa (δ 66Zn carnivore < δ 66Zn omnivore < δ 66Zn herbivore) 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 δ 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.

KW - Diagenesis

KW - Diet

KW - Stable isotopes

KW - Trophic ecology

KW - Zinc

KW - Hominidae/physiology

KW - Fossils

KW - Asia, Southeastern

KW - Animals

KW - Diet, Paleolithic

KW - Zinc Isotopes/analysis

KW - Caves

KW - Collagen/chemistry

KW - Tooth/chemistry

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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1911744117

DO - 10.1073/pnas.1911744117

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AN - SCOPUS:85081147322

SN - 0027-8424

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JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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ER -

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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