Morita, M.

1 publication

Edmonds, J. S.; Shibata, Y.; Prince, Robert I. T.; Preen, Anthony R.; Morita, M. (detail)
1997Elemental composition of a tusk of a dugong, Dugong dugon, from Exmouth, Western Australia.
Mar. Biol. 129(2): 203-214. 5 tabs. 5 figs.
—X-ray fluorescence-imaging and analysis of acid-digested material from a tusk of a 55-year-old pregnant female dugong provided a record of fluctuations in barium, calcium, iron, lithium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, strontium, and zinc. These fluctuations are attributed to natural environmental changes and/or changes in the dugong's physiology with increasing age; elements usually regarded as pollutants or as affected by anthropogenic changes were not detected.