A skeleton of peat-trapped forest rhinoceros Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Jäger, 1839) from Gorzów Wielkopolski, Northwestern Poland: a record of life and death of the Eemian large mammals

We present a description of an almost complete skeleton of the forest rhino (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) found near Gorzów Wielkopolski (Northwest Poland) in its geological and palaeoenvironmental context. While finds of bones and teeth are common, the importance of this find resides in, that it is the most complete specimen of this species, almost perfectly preserved in a well-studied and dated stratigraphic and sedimentological context, along with other fossil fauna and flora. The OSL dates of glaciofluvial sediments sandwiching skeleton-bearing horizons indicate a Middle Eemian age of the Pleistocene paleolake land. This warm climate is also indicated by the results of sedimentological, geochemical, paleobotanical, and isotopic analyses. The rhino skeleton was deposited in a shallow area near the lake’s littoral zone. Bite marks of a large predator (cave hyena) were recognized on the rhino’s pelvis, which, due to their location, were probably created post-mortem. With an estimated height of 1.82 m at the withers, this was a large adult Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis. The results of osteometric analyses indicate that we are dealing with one of the largest known individuals of this species. Although it suffered from a pathologically deformed spine, the individual died at a relatively old age.Peer reviewe

Algal mats transport diaspores and carpological remains in shallow lakes

Algal mats in lakes and reservoirs can transport diaspores and carpological remains of plants, and thus may influence the creation of taphocoenoses. In 2012, I quantified carpological remains in two types of algal mats from a small reservoir in southern Poland. Mats formed by filamentous algae participate primarily in the original transport of diaspores, and can influence their concentration and facilitate their migration, mainly between the shores of the reservoir. Diatom mats partake primarily in diaspore redeposition, but can also cause their dispersal between the shore zone and the central part of the reservoir. This research demonstrates that mats built by diatoms contain far more remains and are more biologically diverse than filamentous algal mats. Movement of carpological remains observed in both types of algal mats points to their role in the formation of taphocoenoses and suggests that algal mats must be considered when interpreting macrofossil records

Overview of palaeobotanical investigations on the Quaternary in the Tatra Mts., Pieniny Mts. and Podhale region

Palaeobotanical, mainly palynological, investigations, carried out in the Tatra Mts. and Podhale region made it possible to date organic sediments as well as to trace history of migration routes of several plant taxa, mainly trees. The results of pollen analyses allowed for the reconstruction of formation of individual vegetation belts in the Tatra Mts. The development of human settlements was traced on the basis of pollen analyses of the Podhale peat bogs. The decline of the last glaciations (Weichselian) and the Holocene are the best studied periods in this area, as far as palaeobotany is concerned. In the present overview most of earlier studies were taken into consideration

The causes and mechanisms of climate change during the Pleistocene : the state of art

The reason of cyclic climate change during the Pleistocene is probably so-called Milankovitch cycles, consisting of three main orbital parameters of the Earth: the shape of Earth’s orbit eccentricity, axial tilt of Earth and precession – change in the direction of the Earth’s axis. They also impact on the insolation, which significantly contributes to the formation of ice sheets. The climate is conditioned largely by energy derived from the sun, dependent on the current solar activity. Specific configurations of these factors have contributed to the formation of glacial-interglacial cycles in the past; they have today and will have an impact on the climate of our planet in the future

Older and Younger Holsteinian climate oscillations in the palaeobotanical record of the Brus profile (SE Poland)

A pollen sequence of Holsteinian/Mazovian age known since the 1980s in Brus (Western Polesie) is the second site with a plant macrofossil record in eastern Poland. High sedimentation rates in a palaeolake that functioned in this area have allowed a detailed climate reconstruction that enabled to trace the Older and Younger Holsteinian oscillations and to outline the water-level changes in the water body. Climate reconstructions, based on full palaeobotanical analyses (pollen and macroremains), were compared with those from Nowiny Żukowskie (Lublin Upland), revealing regional climatic patterns. The two Holsteinian climate oscillations were correlated with those detected in the Dethlingen section of Germany (Koutsodendris et al., 2010), providing more information on the spatial scale of these events

Quaternary environmental changes at Starunia palaeontological site and vicinity (Carpathian region, Ukraine) based on palaeobotanical studies

The unique nature of the Starunia palaeontological site, where nearly perfectly preserved large mammals were discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, and also the incompletely researched history of the Pleistocene vegetation of the region, provided the necessary stimulus to undertake further complex palaeobotanical investigations. The Pleistocene and Holocene sediments filling the Velyky Lukavets River valley are the object of this type of investigation. Both the succession of vegetation and radiocarbon dating indicate that the formation of biogenic sediments began in the Weichselian Middle Pleniglacial, in the Moershoofd interstadial, and lasted through the Hengelo/Denekamp Interstadial Complex and the Late Glacial and Holocene. Palaeobotanical investigations show the Middle Pleniglacial to have been characterized by an open, forestless landscape. Grassland steppe communities dominated with extremely high proportions of Poaceae, as well as Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae, and a number of herbaceous plant taxa. More moist places were occupied by dwarf shrub tundra with Betula nana, Alnus viridis, and Cyperaceae. Small changes in the character of the vegetation resulting from climatic oscillations made their mark through a slight increase in the proportion of tree-birches, fir and pine. The record of Late Weichselian plant succession in the Velyky Lukavets River valley also documents the dominance of open habitats with a preponderance of steppe and steppe-tundra communities and a dry, continental climate. Only with the beginning of the Holocene did an improvement in climate conditions lead to the rapid expansion of forest communities with a dominance of pine accompanied by fir, larch, and trees, which are more demanding in terms of temperature, e.g. elm, oak, lime, hornbeam and hazel

How to resolve Pleistocene stratigraphic problems by different methods? A case study from eastern Poland

Different methods have been used to determine the stratigraphic position of Pleistocene alluvial deposits, particularly fluvial interglacial deposits. Near-surface deposits of a meandering river, developed in point-bar and oxbow lake facies, in the Samica River valley (near Łuków, eastern Poland) have been investigated. The fossil valley is incised into the till plain and the outwash. The fluvial succession is locally overlain by solifluction deposits. All the deposits underwent sedimentological analysis. The petrographic composition of basal till occurring in the vicinity of a fossil valley was determined with the method of indicator erratics. Fluvial deposits were examined by pollen analysis and plant macrofossil analysis of oxbow lake facies. Absolute dating methods were applied to the deposits (thermoluminescence methods: TL and additionally IRSL). Lithological differences between fluvial and the surrounding glaciofluvial deposits were identified and their lithostratigraphic position assigned. Petrographic analysis of till and palaeobotanical analyses of oxbow lake facies gave compatible results. Fluvial deposits were formed after the Sanian 2/Elsterian Glaciation, during the Mazovian/Holsteinian Interglacial. Luminescence dating of the fluvial deposits by the TLMAX method yielded the most relevant results (412-445 ka), which indicate that these deposits were formed during the end of the MIS 12 and beginning of the MIS 11 stage

Substantial light woodland and open vegetation characterized the temperate forest biome before Homo sapiens

Acknowledgments We thank D. Karger for assisting with the bias correction and downscaling of the Last Interglacial climate data based on the CHELSA V2 dataset. We also thank P. Gibbard for help and support during data collection. We are thankful to A. Blach Overgaard for help in harmonizing the pollen taxa. We thank C. Tzedakis for thorough and helpful feedback regarding this manuscript. We thank A. Pearcy Buitenwerf for helpful comments on the manuscript. Last, we thank C. Davison for the valuable discussions and assistance throughout this project. Funding: This work was supported by the project TERRANOVA, the European Landscape Learning Initiative, which received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 813904. The output reflects only the views of the authors, and the European Union cannot be held responsible for the use which may be made of the information contained therein. J.-C.S. also considers this work to contribute to his VILLUM Investigator project “Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World” funded by VILLUM FONDEN (grant 16549), the Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) funded by the Danish National Research Foundation (grant DNRF173), and his Independent Research Fund Denmark: Natural Sciences project MegaComplexity (grant 0135-00225B). This work was also supported by SustainScapes - Center for Sustainable Landscapes under Global Change (NOVO grant NNF20OC0059595).Peer reviewedPublisher PD