The influence of diet on the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in animals was investigated by analyzing animals grown in the laboratory on diets of constant nitrogen isotopic composition. 
The isotopic composition of the nitrogen in an animal reflects the nitrogen isotopic composition of its diet. The δ^(15)N values of the whole bodies of animals are usually more positive than those of their diets. Different individuals of a species raised on the same diet can have significantly different δ^(15)N values. The variability of the relationship between the δ^(15)N values of animals and their diets is greater for different species raised on the same diet than for the same species raised on different diets. Different tissues of mice are also enriched in ^(15)N relative to the diet, with the difference between the δ^(15)N values of a tissue and the diet depending on both the kind of tissue and the diet involved. The δ^(15)N values of collagen and chitin, biochemical components that are often preserved in fossil animal remains, are also related to the δ^(15)N value of the diet. 
The dependence of the δ^(15)N values of whole animals and their tissues and biochemical components on the δ^(15)N value of diet indicates that the isotopic composition of animal nitrogen can be used to obtain information about an animal's diet if its potential food sources had different δ^(15)N values. The nitrogen isotopic method of dietary analysis probably can be used to estimate the relative use of legumes vs non-legumes or of aquatic vs terrestrial organisms as food sources for extant and fossil animals. However, the method probably will not be applicable in those modern ecosystems in which the use of chemical fertilizers has influenced the distribution of nitrogen isotopes in food sources. 
The isotopic method of dietary analysis was used to reconstruct changes in the diet of the human population that occupied the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico over a 7000 yr span. Variations in the δ^(15)C and δ^(15)N values of bone collagen suggest that C_4 and/or CAM plants (presumably mostly corn) and legumes (presumably mostly beans) were introduced into the diet much earlier than suggested by conventional archaeological analysis.

Influence of Diet On the Distribtion of Nitrogen Isotopes in Animals

Recent studies have shown that stable hydrogen isotope ratios (δD) in the tissues of animals often correlate with δD of local precipitation. Here we examined the relationship between δD in feathers and growing season precipitation for neotropical migrant songbirds breeding over a continent-wide isotopic gradient. δD values were determined on feathers of 140 individuals of 6 species of wild insectivorous forest songbirds (Setophaga ruticilla, Empidonax minimus, Vermivora peregrinus, Catharus ustulatus, Seiurus aurocapillus, Hylocichla mustelina) taken from 14 breeding locations across North America. The δD of feathers was strongly correlated with the δD of growing season precipitation at breeding sites across North America. As feather hydrogen is metabolically inert after growth, this relationship was then used to assess the breeding origins of wintering migrants. Deuterium values of feathers from 64 individuals representing 5 species of migrants (Helmitheros vermivorus, Wilsonia citrina, Hylocichla mustelina, Dumetella carolinensis, Seirus aurocapillus) at a wintering site in Guatemala were consistent with those predicted from the known breeding ranges of these species. This study demonstrates hydrogen isotopes may become a powerful tool for linking breeding and wintering grounds of neotropical migrant songbirds, as well as other migratory species moving between isotopically distinct regions.

Linking breeding and wintering grounds of neotropical migrant songbirds using stable hydrogen isotopic analysis of feathers.

To determine whether stable isotopes can be used for identifying the geographic origins of migratory bird populations, we examined the isotopic composition of hydrogen (deuterium, δD), carbon (δ13C), and strontium (δ87Sr) in tissues of a migratory passerine, the black-throated blue warbler (Dendroica caerulescens), throughout its breeding range in eastern North America. δD and δ13C values in feathers, which are grown in the breeding area, varied systematically along a latitudinal gradient, being highest in samples from the southern end of the species’ breeding range in Georgia and lowest in southern Canada. In addition, δD decreased from east to west across the northern part of the breeding range, from New Brunswick to Michigan. δ87Sr ratios were highest in the Appalachian Mountains, and decreased towards the west. These patterns are consistent with geographical variation in the isotopic composition of the natural environment, i.e., with that of precipitation, plants, and soils for δD, δ13C, and δ87Sr, respectively. Preliminary analyses of the δD and δ13C composition of feathers collected from warblers in their Caribbean winter grounds indicate that these individuals were mostly from northern breeding populations. Furthermore, variances in isotope ratios in samples from local areas in winter tended to be larger than those in summer, suggesting that individuals from different breeding localities may mix in winter habitats. These isotope markers, therefore, have the potential for locating the breeding origins of migratory species on their winter areas, for quantifying the degree of mixing of breeding populations on migratory and wintering sites, and for documenting other aspects of the population structure migratory animals – information needed for studies of year-round ecology of these species as well as for their conservation. Combining information from several stable isotopes will help to increase the resolution for determining the geographic origins of individuals in such highly vagile populations.

The use of isotope tracers for identifying populations of migratory birds

A great tradition in macroevolution and systematics has been the ritual squabbling between palaeontologists and molecular biologists. But, because both sides were talking past each other, they could never agree. Practitioners in both fields should play to their strengths and work together: palaeontologists can provide minimum constraints on branching points in the Tree of Life with considerable precision, and estimate the extent of unrecorded prehistory. Molecular tree analysts have remarkable modelling tools in their armoury to convert multiple minimum age constraints into meaningful dated trees. As we discuss here, work should now focus on establishing reasonable, dated trees that satisfy rigorous assessment of the available fossils and careful consideration of molecular tree methods: rocks and clocks together are an unbeatable combination. Reliably dated trees provide, for the first time, the opportunity to explore wider questions in macroevolution.

Rocks and clocks: calibrating the Tree of Life using fossils and molecules

Isotopic Study of the Biology of Modern and Fossil Vertebrates

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Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

Rugalichnus mclaughlinensis: a new ichnospecies of microbially induced sedimentary structure from the nonmarine Early Carboniferous of New Brunswick, Canada

AtlANtIC GeoloGy 50, 18 27 (2014) 0843-5561|10|00018-27 $2.65|0 doi: 10.4138/atlgeol.2014.002 rESUME La chaux, ou chaux vive, est extraite de roches sedimentaires carbonatees comme le calcaire. On en fait divers usages, par exemple dans les secteurs de la construction, de l’agriculture, de la medecine et de la fabrication d’acier et de papier. Au XIXe siecle, la production de chaux destinee au mortier et au plâtre representait un important volet de l’economie de Saint John au Nouveau-Brunswick (Canada). Parmi le grand nombre de carrieres et de fours en activite, la carriere de Green Head Cove, sur l’ile Green Head, etait un des chefs de file de l’industrie. Cette carriere a probablement ete exploitee des le debut du XVIIIe siecle ou avant. Pendant la majeure partie de ses annees fastes, durant le XIXe siecle, la carriere etait exploitee par Joseph et Frank Armstrong, et reputee dans les Maritimes et en Nouvelle-Angleterre pour la qualite superieure de son produit. Des articles dans les journaux de l’epoque qualifiaient Joseph Armstrong de pionnier de l’industrie de la chaux au Nouveau-Brunswick. La production de la carriere de Green Head a cesse au debut du XXe siecle, et on trouve aujourd’hui sur le site de l’ile Green Head les derniers vestiges et peut-etre le meilleur exemple de ce qui fut jadis une industrie florissante. [Traduit par la redaction]

The historic limestone quarry on Green Head Island in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Since publication of the New Brunswick Museum's first catalogue of type fossils in 1988, over 240 specimen records have been added to the collection of primary and secondary types. The list includes fossils recovered from the collection of G.F. Matthew that are considered to have type, or probable type, status. New specimens resulting from publications since 1988 include invertebrates, ichnofossils and vertebrates.

			RESUME
			Depuis la publication du premier catalogue de fossiles stratigraphiques du Musle du Nouveau-Brunswick en 1988, on a ajoute plus de 240 enregistrements de specimens a la collection de types primaires et secondaires. La liste englobe des fossiles provenant de la collection de G.F. Matthews, consideres comme des fossiles de types definis ou de types et valeurs probables. Les nouveaux specimens decoulant des communications publiees depuis 1988 comprennent des invertebres, des ichnofossiles et des vertebres.
			
[Traduit par la redaction]

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Randall F. Miller

Papers

Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections

Rugalichnus mclaughlinensis: a new ichnospecies of microbially induced sedimentary structure from the nonmarine Early Carboniferous of New Brunswick, Canada

The historic limestone quarry on Green Head Island in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Additions to the New Brunswick Museum Palaeontology Type Collection (1988-1996)