Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopic offsets between diet and hair/feces in captive chimpanzees.

Tsutaya T, Fujimori Y, Hayashi M, Yoneda M, Miyabe-Nishiwaki T.

Stable isotope analyses have been used for dietary reconstruction of several wildlife species. It is important to estimate isotopic differences (offsets) between tissues and diet in the target species for the precise reconstruction. Although the number of stable isotopic studies of wild chimpanzees are increasing, the isotopic offsets in chimpanzees have never been reported. In this study, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic offsets of hairs and feces in 13 adult chimpanzees kept at KUPRI were presented.

All consumed food items and its weight were recorded during the study period (one week). Then, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios of the food items, hairs, and feces were measured, and the offset values were computed.

The estimated isotopic offset values in the KUPRI chimpanzees were consistent with those reported in other primate species. The offset values estimated in this study will contribute to dietary reconstruction of chimpanzees using stable isotope analysis.

Bibliographic information

Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 31: 59 - 67.
DOI: 10.1002/rcm.7760.

2016/12/09 Primate Research Institute