Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology

Jimmy de Rooij; Jeroen H.J.L. van der Lubbe; Suzan Verdegaal; Megan Hulscher; Daphne Tooms; Pim Kaskes; Oeki Verhage; Leonie Portanger; Anne S. Schulp

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274

Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology

Jimmy de Rooij, Jeroen H.J.L. van der Lubbe, Suzan Verdegaal, Megan Hulscher, Daphne Tooms, Pim Kaskes, Oeki Verhage, Leonie Portanger, Anne S. Schulp

Naturalis Biodiversity Center

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

Abstract

Our understanding of Late Cretaceous dinosaur ecosystems from North America has considerably improved through stable isotope analyses on fossil bones and teeth. Oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions of structurally-bound carbonate in these fossil apatites are commonly used to infer variations of ingested water and food sources, which are in turn related to environmental and climatic conditions. Incremental isotopic records potentially provide insights into seasonality and migratory behaviour. So far, these reconstructions are based on vertebrate remains from spatiotemporally diverse datasets. Here, we present oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic records from a large, spatially and temporally well-constrained, Triceratops bonebed from the Upper Maastrichtian Lance Formation (eastern Wyoming. USA). These isotopic compositions allow to elucidate the palaeoecology of these large herbivores and their ecosystem in detail, as well as their habitat use, diet and possible migration. The δ18O signature from incrementally sampled Triceratops teeth reveal relatively low intra-tooth variation (average 1.3 ‰), comparable to contemporaneous dinosaur species as well as modern herbivorous mammals. Average δ13C values (−5.4 ‰) are somewhat higher than for modern C3 plant grazers, and hint towards complex interactions during carbon uptake by non-avian herbivorous dinosaurs. Calculated δ18O of drinking water (−14.8 ‰) combined with the local sedimentology of fine-grained siliciclastic deposits with high total organic and low carbonate contents strongly suggest a freshwater environment. Additionally, the combined average δ18O and δ13C Triceratops isotope signatures indicate a living environment intermediate between inland forests and coastal floodplains, expanding on earlier theories of ornithischian niche partitioning. Our robust dataset provides meaningful tests of habitat and palaeoecological hypotheses for Triceratops, and highlights the application of spatiotemporally well-constrained fossil remains.

Original language	English
Article number	111274
Pages (from-to)	1-18
Number of pages	18
Journal	Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
Volume	607
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript.

Funding Information:
We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

Stable isotopes
Seasonality
Diagenesis
Niche partitioning
Bioapatite

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274Licence: CC BY

1-s2.0-S003101822200445X-mainFinal published version, 14.4 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

de Rooij, J., van der Lubbe, J. H. J. L., Verdegaal, S., Hulscher, M., Tooms, D., Kaskes, P., Verhage, O., Portanger, L., & Schulp, A. S. (2022). Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 607, 1-18. Article 111274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274

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title = "Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology",

abstract = "Our understanding of Late Cretaceous dinosaur ecosystems from North America has considerably improved through stable isotope analyses on fossil bones and teeth. Oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions of structurally-bound carbonate in these fossil apatites are commonly used to infer variations of ingested water and food sources, which are in turn related to environmental and climatic conditions. Incremental isotopic records potentially provide insights into seasonality and migratory behaviour. So far, these reconstructions are based on vertebrate remains from spatiotemporally diverse datasets. Here, we present oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic records from a large, spatially and temporally well-constrained, Triceratops bonebed from the Upper Maastrichtian Lance Formation (eastern Wyoming. USA). These isotopic compositions allow to elucidate the palaeoecology of these large herbivores and their ecosystem in detail, as well as their habitat use, diet and possible migration. The δ18O signature from incrementally sampled Triceratops teeth reveal relatively low intra-tooth variation (average 1.3 ‰), comparable to contemporaneous dinosaur species as well as modern herbivorous mammals. Average δ13C values (−5.4 ‰) are somewhat higher than for modern C3 plant grazers, and hint towards complex interactions during carbon uptake by non-avian herbivorous dinosaurs. Calculated δ18O of drinking water (−14.8 ‰) combined with the local sedimentology of fine-grained siliciclastic deposits with high total organic and low carbonate contents strongly suggest a freshwater environment. Additionally, the combined average δ18O and δ13C Triceratops isotope signatures indicate a living environment intermediate between inland forests and coastal floodplains, expanding on earlier theories of ornithischian niche partitioning. Our robust dataset provides meaningful tests of habitat and palaeoecological hypotheses for Triceratops, and highlights the application of spatiotemporally well-constrained fossil remains.",

keywords = "Stable isotopes, Seasonality, Diagenesis, Niche partitioning, Bioapatite",

author = "{de Rooij}, Jimmy and {van der Lubbe}, {Jeroen H.J.L.} and Suzan Verdegaal and Megan Hulscher and Daphne Tooms and Pim Kaskes and Oeki Verhage and Leonie Portanger and Schulp, {Anne S.}",

note = "Funding Information: We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript. Funding Information: We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

year = "2022",

month = dec,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274",

language = "English",

volume = "607",

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de Rooij, J, van der Lubbe, JHJL, Verdegaal, S, Hulscher, M, Tooms, D, Kaskes, P, Verhage, O, Portanger, L & Schulp, AS 2022, 'Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology', Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, vol. 607, 111274, pp. 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.111274

Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology. / de Rooij, Jimmy; van der Lubbe, Jeroen H.J.L.; Verdegaal, Suzan et al.
In: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, Vol. 607, 111274, 01.12.2022, p. 1-18.

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

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology

AU - de Rooij, Jimmy

AU - van der Lubbe, Jeroen H.J.L.

AU - Verdegaal, Suzan

AU - Hulscher, Megan

AU - Tooms, Daphne

AU - Kaskes, Pim

AU - Verhage, Oeki

AU - Portanger, Leonie

AU - Schulp, Anne S.

N1 - Funding Information: We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript. Funding Information: We like to express our sincerest gratitude to Donley and Nancy Darnell for their hospitality and help during field seasons. Additionally, we like to thank our team of volunteers for their enthusiasm and efforts in recovering the fossil material. Thanks to Bouke Lacet (Faculty of Science, Earth Sciences, VU Amsterdam) for making the thin-sections and to Natasja den Ouden (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for streamlining access to the material and handling of the destructive sampling requests. In addition, we owe gratitude to Martijn Guliker, Yasmin Grooters and their team of volunteers (Naturalis Biodiversity Center) for the preparation of the material presented in this study. We are further thankful for the technical support by Thom Claessen from Utrecht University, Faculty of Geosciences in Utrecht. Martine Hagen, Unze van Buuren, Maarten Prins en Kay Beets (VU Amsterdam) are thanked for their assistance during the laser-diffraction particle size and thermogravimetric analyses. Additionally, we like to thank Lisette Kootker from the VU Amsterdam for providing us with samples on modern human enamel. The project is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) through ALW Open Programme (ALWOP.633). We like to acknowledge Dylan Bastiaans (PIMUZ, Switzerland) for his valuable contributions and input in developing the initial research plan. Furthermore, our gratitude goes towards the Mondriaan Fonds for their important contribution in sponsoring the field seasons. Last but not least, we like to thank the two anonymous reviewers and associated editor Howard Falcon-Lang for their time in carefully reading the manuscript and for providing insightful, constructive comments and suggestions that helped improve the manuscript. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2022/12/1

Y1 - 2022/12/1

N2 - Our understanding of Late Cretaceous dinosaur ecosystems from North America has considerably improved through stable isotope analyses on fossil bones and teeth. Oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions of structurally-bound carbonate in these fossil apatites are commonly used to infer variations of ingested water and food sources, which are in turn related to environmental and climatic conditions. Incremental isotopic records potentially provide insights into seasonality and migratory behaviour. So far, these reconstructions are based on vertebrate remains from spatiotemporally diverse datasets. Here, we present oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic records from a large, spatially and temporally well-constrained, Triceratops bonebed from the Upper Maastrichtian Lance Formation (eastern Wyoming. USA). These isotopic compositions allow to elucidate the palaeoecology of these large herbivores and their ecosystem in detail, as well as their habitat use, diet and possible migration. The δ18O signature from incrementally sampled Triceratops teeth reveal relatively low intra-tooth variation (average 1.3 ‰), comparable to contemporaneous dinosaur species as well as modern herbivorous mammals. Average δ13C values (−5.4 ‰) are somewhat higher than for modern C3 plant grazers, and hint towards complex interactions during carbon uptake by non-avian herbivorous dinosaurs. Calculated δ18O of drinking water (−14.8 ‰) combined with the local sedimentology of fine-grained siliciclastic deposits with high total organic and low carbonate contents strongly suggest a freshwater environment. Additionally, the combined average δ18O and δ13C Triceratops isotope signatures indicate a living environment intermediate between inland forests and coastal floodplains, expanding on earlier theories of ornithischian niche partitioning. Our robust dataset provides meaningful tests of habitat and palaeoecological hypotheses for Triceratops, and highlights the application of spatiotemporally well-constrained fossil remains.

AB - Our understanding of Late Cretaceous dinosaur ecosystems from North America has considerably improved through stable isotope analyses on fossil bones and teeth. Oxygen and carbon stable isotopic compositions of structurally-bound carbonate in these fossil apatites are commonly used to infer variations of ingested water and food sources, which are in turn related to environmental and climatic conditions. Incremental isotopic records potentially provide insights into seasonality and migratory behaviour. So far, these reconstructions are based on vertebrate remains from spatiotemporally diverse datasets. Here, we present oxygen (δ18O) and carbon (δ13C) isotopic records from a large, spatially and temporally well-constrained, Triceratops bonebed from the Upper Maastrichtian Lance Formation (eastern Wyoming. USA). These isotopic compositions allow to elucidate the palaeoecology of these large herbivores and their ecosystem in detail, as well as their habitat use, diet and possible migration. The δ18O signature from incrementally sampled Triceratops teeth reveal relatively low intra-tooth variation (average 1.3 ‰), comparable to contemporaneous dinosaur species as well as modern herbivorous mammals. Average δ13C values (−5.4 ‰) are somewhat higher than for modern C3 plant grazers, and hint towards complex interactions during carbon uptake by non-avian herbivorous dinosaurs. Calculated δ18O of drinking water (−14.8 ‰) combined with the local sedimentology of fine-grained siliciclastic deposits with high total organic and low carbonate contents strongly suggest a freshwater environment. Additionally, the combined average δ18O and δ13C Triceratops isotope signatures indicate a living environment intermediate between inland forests and coastal floodplains, expanding on earlier theories of ornithischian niche partitioning. Our robust dataset provides meaningful tests of habitat and palaeoecological hypotheses for Triceratops, and highlights the application of spatiotemporally well-constrained fossil remains.

KW - Stable isotopes

KW - Seasonality

KW - Diagenesis

KW - Niche partitioning

KW - Bioapatite

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VL - 607

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JO - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

JF - Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

M1 - 111274

ER -

Stable isotope record of Triceratops from a mass accumulation (Lance Formation, Wyoming, USA) provides insights into Triceratops behaviour and ecology

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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