Isotopes in mammoth teeth evidence migrations
Isotopes in mammoth teeth evidence migrations
New, very sensitive methods allowed analysing seasonal changes of strontium isotopes in woolly mammoth teeth, thus enabling analysis with under 10-day resolution over more than 10 years of tooth growth. This approach (LA-MC-ICPMS) is especially useful for studying organisms with low Sr uptake, like humans, and for slow-forming tissues. It also helps separate early tooth growth from later changes, improving reconstructions of the ecology of large mammals and human life histories.
Figure: A – Cross-section of a woolly mammoth molar from Torske, Western Ukraine. The blue line shows the ablation line inside the enamel layer. B – Seasonal changes in 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios, shown as a smoothed trend (red line) and detailed fluctuations (grey line). C – Mammoth skeleton, assembled from separate elements, on display at the State Museum of Natural History in Lviv.
PUBLICATION: Anczkiewicz R., Müller W., Mianowski S., Nava A., Bondioli L., Matyszczak M., Jasińska A., Ostendorf J., Bakayeva S., and Yanytsky T. Comparative high spatial resolution measurements of Sr isotopic composition in bio-apatite using different LA-MC-ICPMS configurations: application to faunal (sub)seasonal mobility studies. Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 8, 2025. doi.org/10.1039/D5JA00146C