Through infrared spectrometry, x-ray diffraction spectrometry, and elemental analyses, the authors compared the effects of the Nelson et al. protocol with the solubility profile protocol on the crystal structure and crystallinity of the bone and fossil specimens. The results show that the procedures used by Nelson et al., which include a preliminary ashing step, result in severe recrystallization of apatite both before and during the leaching step, which deleteriously affects any attempt to recover biological strontium. By contrast no observable recrystallization takes place in the solubility profile procedure. The results imply that the conclusions reached by Nelson et al. are primarily artifacts of the specific methods used in their study, rather than due to any inherent mechanism of diagenesis.