The present phylogeographic pattern of red deer in Eurasia is not only a result of the contraction of their distribution range into glacial refugia and postglacial expansion, but probably also an effect of replacement of some red deer s.l. mtDNA lineages by others during the last 50 000 years. To better recognize this process, we analysed 501 sequences of mtDNA cytochrome b, including 194 ancient and 75 contemporary samples newly obtained for this study. The inclusion of 161 radiocarbon-dated samples enabled us to study the phylogeny in a temporal context and conduct divergence-time estimation and molecular dating. Depending on methodology, our estimate of divergence between Cervus elaphus and Cervus canadensis varied considerably (370 000 or 1.37 million years BP, respectively). The divergence times of genetic lineages and haplogroups corresponded to large environmental changes associated with stadials and interstadials of the Late Pleistocene. Due to the climatic oscillations, the distribution of C. elaphus and C. canadensis fluctuated in north–south and east–west directions. Some haplotypes dated to pre-Last Glacial Maximum periods were not detected afterwards, representing possibly extinct populations. We indicated with a high probability the presence of red deer sensu lato in south-eastern Europe and western Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum.

A partial carcass of an adult woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) found in 2012 on Maly Lyakhovsky Island presents a new opportunity to retrieve associated anatomical, morphological, and life history data on this important component of Pleistocene biotas. In addition, we address hematological, histological, and microbiological issues that relate directly to quality of preservation. Recovered by staff from North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, this individual is a relatively old female preserving soft tissue of the anteroventral portion of the head, most of both fore-quarters, and the ventral aspect of much of the rest of the body. Both tusks were recovered and subjected to computed tomographic analysis in which annual dentin increments were revealed as cycles of variation in X-ray attenuation. Measurements of annual increment areas (in longitudinal section) display a pulsed pattern of tusk growth showing cycles of growth rate variation over periods of 3e5 years. These intervals are interpreted as calving cycles reflecting regular shifts in calcium and phosphate demand for tusk growth vs. fetal ossification and lactation. Brown liquid associated with the frozen carcass turned out to include remains of hemolyzed blood, and blood samples examined microscopically included white blood cells with preserved nuclei. Muscle tissue from the trunk was unusually well preserved, even at the histological level. Intestinal contents and tissue samples were investigated microbiologically, and several strains of lacticacid bacteria (e.g., Enterococcus faecium, Enterococcus hirae) that are widely distributed as commensal organisms in the intestines of herbivores were isolated.

New finds of brown bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758) fossil remains from the territory of Yakutia, namely, skulls and mandibular bones, have been investigated. The new finds are exceptionally large: most dimensions of these specimens exceed those of the present-day brown bears of Yakutia and even the maximal parameters of the largest individuals of the present-day Eurasian subspecies U. a. beringianus and U. a. piscator. Analysis of various data showed that giant brown bears had inhabited northern Yakutia during the Karginian interstadial in the Late Pleistocene.

New finds of the fossil brown bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758) remains from the territory of Yakutia have been investigated: skulls and mandibular bones. The new finds are of exceptionally large sizes, most of their measurements far exceed those of not only the modern brown bear from Yakutia, but also the maximum values of the largest representatives of modern subspecies from Eurasia, U. a. beringianus and U. a. piscator. Analysis of various data indicates that the giant brown bear existed in the north of Yakutia during the Karginian interstadial of the Late Pleistocene.

Ancient microbial communities of permafrost soils and frozen animal remains represent an archive that has barely been explored. This yet unexplored microbial world is a vast resource that can provide us with new evolutionary insights, metabolic pathways and novel chemistry. Here, we reveal that Actinobacteria isolated from a faecal sample from the intestinal tract of a 28,000-year-old Siberian mammoth are phylogenetically and metabolically distinct from currently known modern siblings. Ancient Micromonospora, Oerskovia, Saccharopolyspora, Sanguibacter and Streptomyces species were successfully revived and their genome sequences resolved. Surprisingly, the genomes of the ancestors show a large phylogenetic distance to strains isolated today and harbour many novel biosynthetic gene clusters that may well represent uncharacterised biosynthetic potential. Metabolic profiles of the strains display production of known molecules like antimycin, conglobatin and macrotetrolides, but the majority of the mass features could not be dereplicated. Our work provides a snapshot into Actinobacteria of the past, yielding unexplored genomic information that is not yet present in current databases.