Supporting Data To: Shark tooth collagen stable isotopes (δ15N and δ13C) as ecological proxies

The isotopic composition of tooth-bound collagen has long been used to reconstruct dietary patterns of animals in extant and paleoecological systems. For sharks that replace teeth rapidly in a conveyor-like system, stable isotopes of tooth collagen (δ13Ctooth & δ15Ntooth) are poorly understood and lacking in ecological context relative to other non-lethally sampled tissues. This tissue holds promise, because shark jaws may preserve isotopic chronologies from which to infer individual-level ecological patterns across a range of temporal resolutions.  

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values were measured and compared between extracted tooth collagen and four other, non-lethally sampled tissues of varying isotopic turnover rates: blood plasma, red blood cells, fin, and muscle, from eight species of sharks. Individual-level isotopic variability of shark tooth collagen was evaluated by profiling teeth of different ages across whole jaws for the shortfin mako shark Isurus oxyrinchus...