‘Semi‐dwarf’ woolly mammoths from the East Siberian Sea coast, continental Russia

Abstract

A pioneer comprehensive study of several diminutive last‐generation woolly mammoth teeth (M3) found on the coast of the East Siberian Sea between the mouths of the Alazeya and Malaya Kuropatoch'ya rivers was conducted. Two teeth belonged to one individual. These teeth have a similar lamellar frequency and enamel thickness as teeth of Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach. The molar crowns from the lower Alazeya region are similar in size to those of the small Late Pleistocene–Holocene mammoths from Wrangel Island. However, the number of plates (17–19, excluding talons) is much lower than that in the teeth of typical Late Pleistocene M. primigenius (23–25). The age data of the examined teeth are beyond the limits of the 14C dating method (>45 000 years BP). Nevertheless, palaeobotanical data allow correlation of the enclosing sediments with the warm Kazantsevo Interglacial (Eemian, MIS 5e) and reconstruction of the average annual temperature, which was warmer than present‐day temperatures. These conditions are confirmed by the δ18O isotopes from the structurally bound carbonate in tooth enamel. The ancient landscape was wetter and more forested than modern landscapes. The diminution of M3 size and loss of posterior plates were a result of the overall decrease in body size, likely in response to landscape change and narrowing of resource space. Mammoths from the lower Alazeya region demonstrate a stage of significant size reduction, although the dwarfing was not finalized. Their teeth are the oldest amongst the small teeth found in west Beringia.

Late Middle—Early Late Pleistocene Mammoths from the Lower Don River Region (Russia)

“…An analysis of materials from the typical localities of the Lower Volga Region allowed to specify the M3/m3 characteristics of M. trogontherii chosaricus: number of plates (without talons), 19 to 20, lamellar frequency (min-med-max) of 5.5-(6.4)-6.5 and enamel's thickness of 1.9-(2.15)-2.5 [42]. Measurements from [6,9,11,15,16,18,19,25,26,41,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50] and our own data. The studied teeth from the Lower Don Region have a lower number of plates, lower lamellar frequency, greater length of a single plate and thicker enamel compared to the neotype of M. primigenius primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799) from the localities of the second half of the Late Pleistocene from the Taimyr Peninsula [45].…”

Nonpyrogenic charring of Late Pleistocene large mammal remains in northeastern Russia

“…2014; Kirillova et al . 2020). For instance, the presence of this iron phosphate [Fe 3 (PO 4 ) 2 • 8H 2 O] is observed on Late Pleistocene mummies representing the mammoth fauna (Fig.…”

“…Such processes were activated during the degradation of permafrost and the formation of lake‐alluvial landscapes in the warm phases of the MIS 3 interstadial and interglacial (for example, in MIS 5e; Kirillova et al . 2020). Accumulations of animal organic matter rich in phosphorus could have occurred due to the death of large herbivores as a result of falling into natural traps developed during episodes of warming.…”

“…Other microfossils (phytoliths, diatoms, sponge spicules) from the infilling sediment in the F‐506 woolly rhinoceros skull were isolated in accordance with the procedure described in Kirillova et al . (2020). The resulting material in glycerine was examined under a Carl Zeiss Axiostar Plus microscope, 100–400×, at pH 2.…”

The MIS 3–2 environments of the middle Kolyma Basin: implications for the Ice Age peopling of northeast Arctic Siberia

“…Permafrost regions of north and northeast Siberia (Fig. 1A) are famous for the extraordinary findings of Pleistocene fossil fauna and flora, most of which originate from the Taimyr Peninsula and Yakutia (Sher 1971; Vereshchagin 1974; Ukraintseva 1979; Lazarev & Tomskaia 1987; Andreev et al 2002, 2003; Mol et al 2003; Lazarev 2008; Vartanyan et al 2008; Boeskorov, 2010; Maschenko et al 2013, 2015; Boekorov et al 2014; Cheprasov et al 2015; Plotnikov et al 2016; Kirillova et al 2020). The exceptional preservation of the organic remains including soft‐tissues (Solomonov 2009; Boeskorov et al 2013; Chernova et al 2015; Zimmermann et al 2017) is because of the presence of deeply frozen ground persisting from the Last Ice Age (Balobaev 1991; Duchkov 2006; Grosse et al 2013; Fedorov et al 2018) and the thick cryolithic depositional sequences.…”