ANNUAL RAINFALL AND NITROGEN-ISOTOPE CORRELATION IN MACROPOD COLLAGEN- APPLICATION AS A PALAEOPRECIPITATION INDICATOR

Collagen has been extracted and analysed for delta(15)N from modem kan garoos, macropods (Macropus eugenii, M. antilopinus, M. fuliginosus, M . rufus, M. robustus), in Western Australia and South Australia. Compa rison of nitrogen-isotope ratios with annual rainfall for the respecti ve areas produced a good negative correlation for macropods, but not f or other marsupials. This may be related to metabolic adaptations in m acropods to compete against water loss. Hence, the correlation between delta(15)N and annual rainfall may be species-specific. Nitrogen-isot ope analyses on collagenic material extracted from fossil macropods (M acropus spp.) have been determined from two Late Pleistocene deposits in South Australia. Corroboration with spore-pollen and sedimentologic al data confirm that delta(15)N of collagenic material can be used as a proxy for palaeoprecipitation levels in Australia. This has great po tential for understanding palaeoclimatic changes, especially drought p eriods, in Australia during the Pleistocene. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.