By HPLC, a taurine-conjugated bile acid with a retention time different from that of taurocholate was found to be present in the bile of the black-necked swan, Cygnus melanocoryphus. The bile acid was isolated and its structure, established by 1 H and 13 C NMR and mass spectrometry, was that of the taurine N-acyl amidate of 3a,7a,15a-trihydroxy5b-cholan-24-oic acid. The compound was shown to have chromatographic and spectroscopic properties that were identical to those of the taurine conjugate of authentic 3a,7a,15a-trihydroxy-5b-cholan-24-oic acid, previously synthesized by us from ursodeoxycholic acid. By HPLC, the taurine conjugate of 3a,7a,15a-trihydroxy-5b-cholan-