Smith, Tanya M. and Arora, Manish and Austin, Christine and Nunes avila, Janaina and Duval, Mathieu and Lim, Tze Tshen and Piper, Philip J. and Vaiglova, Petra and de Vos, John and Williams, Ian S. and Zhao, Jian-xin and Green, Daniel R. (2024) Oxygen isotopes in orangutan teeth reveal recent and ancient climate variation. eLife, 12. RP90217. ISSN 2050-084X, DOI https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.90217.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Studies of climate variation commonly rely on chemical and isotopic changes recorded in sequentially produced growth layers, such as in corals, shells, and tree rings, as well as in accretionary deposits-ice and sediment cores, and speleothems. Oxygen isotopic compositions (delta O-18) of tooth enamel are a direct method of reconstructing environmental variation experienced by an individual animal. Here, we utilize long-forming orangutan dentitions (Pongo spp.) to probe recent and ancient rainfall trends on a weekly basis over similar to 3-11 years per individual. We first demonstrate the lack of any consistent isotopic enrichment effect during exclusive nursing, supporting the use of primate first molar teeth as environmental proxies. Comparisons of delta O-18 values (n=2016) in twelve molars from six modern Bornean and Sumatran orangutans reveal a high degree of overlap, with more consistent annual and bimodal rainfall patterns in the Sumatran individuals. Comparisons with fossil orangutan delta O-18 values (n=955 measurements from six molars) reveal similarities between modern and late Pleistocene fossil Sumatran individuals, but differences between modern and late Pleistocene/early Holocene Bornean orangutans. These suggest drier and more open environments with reduced monsoon intensity during this earlier period in northern Borneo, consistent with other Niah Caves studies and long-term speleothem delta O-18 records in the broader region. This approach can be extended to test hypotheses about the paleoenvironments that early humans encountered in southeast Asia.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Australian Academy of Science, Australian Research Council (DP210101913); (FT150100215), Spanish Government (RYC2018-025221- I) |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | orangutan; Pongo abelii; Pongo pygmaeus; paleoenvironment; Other |
| Subjects: | Q Science > QE Geology |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science > Department of Geology |
| Depositing User: | Ms. Juhaida Abd Rahim |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Oct 2024 06:36 |
| Last Modified: | 22 Oct 2024 06:36 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/45468 |
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