Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Can The Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Values Of Offspring Be Used As A Proxy For Their Mother's Diet? Using Foetal Physiology To Interpret Bulk Tissue And Amino Acid Δ15N Values, Nico Lübcker, John P. Whiteman, Seth D. Newsome, Robert P. Millar, P.J. Nico De Bruyn
Can The Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Values Of Offspring Be Used As A Proxy For Their Mother's Diet? Using Foetal Physiology To Interpret Bulk Tissue And Amino Acid Δ15N Values, Nico Lübcker, John P. Whiteman, Seth D. Newsome, Robert P. Millar, P.J. Nico De Bruyn
Biological Sciences Faculty Publications
The measurement of bulk tissue nitrogen (δ15N) and carbon isotope values (δ13C) chronologically along biologically inert tissues sampled from offspring can provide a longitudinal record of their mothers' foraging habits. This study tested the important assumption that mother-offspring stable isotope values are positively and linearly correlated. In addition, any change in the mother-offspring bulk tissues and individual amino acids that occurred during gestation was investigated. Whiskers sampled from southern elephant seal pups (Mirounga leonina) and temporally overlapping whiskers from their mothers were analyzed. This included n = 1895 chronologically subsampled whisker segments for bulk …