If an animal (or human) eats only C3 plants, their δC values will be 12.5 in their bone collagen and 14.5 in their apatite.

In contrast, C4 feeders will have bone collagen with a value of 7.5 and apatite value of 0.5 .

Carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of Buhla's bone collagen suggests that Buhla ate largely bison and elk, with occasional salmon and other fish.

In situations of high bone turnover, the 'aged' bone matrix will rapidly be replaced with a new matrix, leading to a lower residence time (i.e. half-life) of bone collagen.

This indicates that the average 'age' and thus the half-life of bone collagen is similar in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

This reaction has been used to release the carboxyl carbons of bone collagen from ancient bones for stable isotope analysis in order to help reconstruct the palaeodiet of cave bears.

The researchers analyzed specimens of human bone collagen from Mesolithic (9,000 to 5,200 years ago) and early Neolithic (5,200 to 4,500 years ago) eras from around Britain.

Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen in human bone collagen allows bioarchaeologists to carry out dietary reconstruction and to make nutritional inferences.

Nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen are ultimately derived from dietary protein, while carbon can be contributed by protein, carbohydrate, or fat in the diet.

During this phase, most bone collagen is lost and porosity is increased.