Fig. 3: Cross plot of δ¹³C_enamel and δ¹⁵N_enamel values for all modern African mammals.

Browsing (dark green), grazing (light green), and mixed feeding (brown-green) herbivores, omnivores (purple), and carnivores (blue) are indicated with color and taxa are indicated with symbols. Dashed lines for convex hulls represent the full range of variation, and shaded ellipses indicate 40% of estimated standard ellipse areas (SEA_C). Herbivores and omnivores have relatively low δ¹⁵N_enamel values and generally plot in the lower half of the figure, while carnivores have higher δ¹⁵N_enamel values and plot in the top half of the figure. Green shaded bars at the top of the figure indicate tooth enamel δ¹³C isotopic ranges for modern herbivores corresponding to pure C₃ (browsing) and C₄ (grazing) resource utilization (after Cerling et al.¹⁰⁴ and corrected for the fossil-fuel-induced shift in the δ¹³C of atmospheric CO₂ for the period of 1950–1970).