This paper considers the data on new findings of mammoth fauna remains in the Middle Lena basin used to specify the species composition of large Late Neopleistocene mammals represented by eleven species. The obtained range of radiocarbon dates made it possible to state that mass burials of Pleistocene mammal remains were formed in the region during the Karginsk Interstadial (24 000-55 000 years ago)

Belolyubsky, I. N.

Boeskorov, G. G.

Mashchenko, E. N.

Nogovitsyn, P. R.

Plotnikov, V. V.

Protopopov, A. V.

Shchelchkova, M. V.

Solomonov, N. G.

Stepanov, A. D.

van der Plicht, J.

G. G. Boeskorov

P. R. Nogovitsyn

E. N. Mashchenko

I. N. Belolyubsky

A. D. Stepanov

V. V. Plotnikov

A. V. Protopopov

M. V. Shchelchkova

J. van der Plicht

N. G. Solomonov

Crossref

Doklady Earth Sciences

New data on mammoth fauna mammals in the central Lena River basin (Yakutia, Lenskie Stolby National Nature Park and adjacent areas)

University of Groningen

   University of GroningenNew data on mammoth fauna mammals in the central Lena River basin (Yakutia, LenskieStolby National Nature Park and adjacent areas)Boeskorov, G. G.; Nogovitsyn, P. R.; Mashchenko, E. N.; Belolyubsky, I. N.; Stepanov, A. D.;Plotnikov, V. V.; Protopopov, A. V.; Shchelchkova, M. V.; van der Plicht, J.; Solomonov, N. G.Published in:Doklady Earth SciencesDOI:10.1134/S1028334X16070102IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite fromit. Please check the document version below.Document VersionPublisher's PDF, also known as Version of recordPublication date:2016Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):Boeskorov, G. G., Nogovitsyn, P. R., Mashchenko, E. N., Belolyubsky, I. N., Stepanov, A. D., Plotnikov, V.V., Protopopov, A. V., Shchelchkova, M. V., van der Plicht, J., & Solomonov, N. G. (2016). New data onmammoth fauna mammals in the central Lena River basin (Yakutia, Lenskie Stolby National Nature Parkand adjacent areas). Doklady Earth Sciences, 469(1), 647-651.https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X16070102CopyrightOther than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of theauthor(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).The publication may also be distributed here under the terms of Article 25fa of the Dutch Copyright Act, indicated by the “Taverne” license.More information can be found on the University of Groningen website: https://www.rug.nl/library/open-access/self-archiving-pure/taverne-amendment.Take-down policyIf you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediatelyand investigate your claim.Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons thenumber of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.647ISSN 1028-334X, Doklady Earth Sciences, 2016, Vol. 469, Part 1, pp. 647–651. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2016.Original Russian Text © G.G. Boeskorov, P.R. Nogovitsyn, E.N. Mashchenko, I.N. Belolyubsky, A.D. Stepanov, V.V. Plotnikov, A.V. Protopopov, M.V. Shchelchkova, J. van derPlicht, N.G. Solomonov, 2016, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2016, Vol. 469, No. 2, pp. 190–194.New Data on Mammoth Fauna Mammals in the Central Lena River Basin (Yakutia, Lenskie Stolby National Nature Park and Adjacent Areas)G. G. Boeskorova,b, P. R. Nogovitsync, E. N. Mashchenkod, I. N. Belolyubskya, A. D. Stepanove, V. V. Plotnikovb, A. V. Protopopovb, M. V. Shchelchkovaf, J. van der Plichtg, and Corresponding Member of the RAS N. G. Solomonovf, hReceived August 12, 2015This paper considers the data on new findings of mammoth fauna remains in the Middle Lena basin used tospecify the species composition of large Late Neopleistocene mammals represented by eleven species. Theobtained range of radiocarbon dates made it possible to state that mass burials of Pleistocene mammalremains were formed in the region during the Karginsk Interstadial (24 000–55 000 years ago).DOI: 10.1134/S1028334X16070102The area of Yakutia is one of the few regions on theEarth where permafrost rocks and cold climate con-tribute to the preservation of loose Quaternary sedi-ments containing numerous remains of the Pleisto-cene organic world, in particular, the Late Neopleisto-cene biome of mammoths. Numerous findings ofmammoth fauna remains in the Arctic zone of Yaku-tia, where the global search for mammoth tusks is stillin progress (up to 20–30 tons per year) [1], are known.Such remains are poorly preserved in the CentralYakutia Region due to the warmer and longer summerand more intensive permafrost melting, and thus theyare not as numerous as in the Far North. As a result,the data on the composition and distribution of themammoth fauna in the Central Yakutia Region wereincomplete until recently; moreover, radiocarbon dat-ings of fossil mammal remains were rare.Sediments of the Pleistocene formations wereuncovered in the Central Yakutia Region on the rightbank of the Lena River: the Bestyakh Formation(Middle Pleistocene, sand with pebbles, 1.0–7.5 m inthickness), the Mavrino Formation (Shirtinsk of theMiddle Neopleistocene–Kazantsevo of the LatePleistocene, sands, 14.5–16.5 m in thickness), and theDiolkuma Formation (Late Neopleistocene, sands,5–20 m in thickness), the age of which is estimated byradiocarbon dating at 11 000–20 000 years [2]. Qua-ternary sediments on the left bank of the Lena occur asalluvial facies of multiple-elevation river terraces andriver tributaries: buried sediments of the PokrovskFormation (the second half of the Lower Neopleisto-cene, Lebedskii horizon; pebble with rare boulders,sand with gravel, fine pebbles and loam); sediments ofthe second over-floodplain accumulative 18- to 22-meter terrace (Sergelyakh) (Upper Neopleistocene,Karginsk and Sartan horizons; pebble, sand, loam, upto 33 m in thickness) and sediments of the first over-floodplain accumulative 8- to 12-meter terrace(Yakutsk) (Upper Neopleistocene, Sartan horizon–Lower Holocene; basal pebble overlapped by sandwith sandy loam and loam interbeds, up to 22 m inthickness) [2, 3].The remains of fossil mammals of mammoth faunawere identified in the Lena middle f low near theLenskie Stolby Nature Park and adjacent areas atvarying times. The bones of the mammoth Mam-muthus primigenius Blum., woolly rhinoceros Coe-lodonta antiquitatis Blum., Lena horse Equus lenensisGEOLOGYa Institute of Diamond and Precious Metals Geology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Lenina pr. 39, Yakutsk, 677007 Russiab Mammoth Fauna Investigation Department, Russian Academy of Sciences, Sakha (Yakutia) Branch, Yakutsk, Russiac Oi Secondary School, Nemyugintsy Settlement, Khangalass Region, Yakutia, Russiad Borisyak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya ul. 123, Moscow, 117997 Russiae Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russiaf Institute of Natural Sciences, Ammosov Northeastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russiag University of Groningen, the Netherlandsh Institute of Biological Problems of the Cryolitozone, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, Russiae-mail: gboeskorov@mail.ru648DOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 469  Part 1  2016BOESKOROV et al.Russ., primeval bison Bison priscus Boj., bighornsheep Ovis nivicola Esch., moose Alces sp., and rein-deer Rangifer tarandus L. were found near the mouthof the Buotama River [5]. The Diring–Yuryakh out-crop, at the mouth of a cognominal creek, is composedof Upper Quaternary sediments with remains of E. len-ensis, B. priscus Boj., and Alces sp. [2, 5]. In the 1980s,scientists from the Institute of Geology, SiberianBranch, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, identifiedthe remains of mammoth, Lena horse, bison, bighornsheep, reindeer, and red deer Cervus elaphus L. onUlakhan-Ary Island, in the Lena River, near themouth of the Buotama.Large collections of bone remains of fossil animalshave been made by participants of the Elaiaada sum-mer ecological expedition by the Oi Secondary School(Nemyugintsy Settlement, Khangalass Region, Yaku-tia, Russia) under the guidance of N.G. Solomonov, acorresponding member of the Russian Academy ofSciences, and P.R. Nogovitsyn, a deputy director ofthe school, from 1995 to the present. Twenty years ofexpedition operations has resulted in identification ofmammoth fauna in Kutalaakh Quarry, in theBuotama River mouth, in creeks such as Chasovnya,Labyia, and Kuranakh creeks, and in areas such asBatamaiy, Kuokh Khaya, and Sanga-Saiylyk (Fig. 1).A few hundred collected mammoth bone remainsare currently kept in the museum of the Oi SecondarySchool and the Institute of Diamond and PreciousMetals Geology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academyof Sciences. In 2012 and 2014, the expedition teams ofthe Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha(Yakutsk) and the Institute of Diamond and PreciousMetals Geology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academyof Sciences, searched for and studied mammoth faunaremains in the Buotama River mouth.During the 1995–2014 expeditions, we studied anumber of individual Upper Quaternary sediments inthe Middle Lena basin (Kutalaakh Quarry, KuokhKhaya, Diring–Yuryakh, Labyia, Kuranakh, andChasovnya), and also local sites of alluvial boneremains of Pleistocene mammals (Ulakhan-AryIsland, Buotama River mouth, and the Batamaiy area)(Fig. 1). The investigation of these areas made it pos-sible to obtain new data on the regional mammothfauna (Table 1). A number of fossil animal bones havebeen dated by the radiocarbon method in differentlaboratories (Table 2).Based on these collections, eleven species of largemammals inhabited the Middle Lena basin in the LateNeopleistocene (wolf, brown bear, cave lion, woollyFig. 1. Location of the mammoth fauna in the Middle Lena basin. (1) Kutalaakh Quarry, (2) Ulakhan-Ary Island, (3–5)Buotama River mouth, (6) Kuokh Khaya, (7) Chasovnya, (8) Diring–Yuryakh, (9) Labyia, (10) Kuranakh, (11) Batamaiy, and(12) Sanga–Saiylyk. BerdigestyakhYakutskPokrovsk124538971110126Tamma R.Sinyaya R.Lena R.Amga R.Buotama R.60°126°EEDOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 469  Part 1  2016NEW DATA ON MAMMOTH FAUNA MAMMALS 649mammoth, woolly rhino, Lena horse, red deer andreindeer, moose, bison, and bighorn sheep) werenoted. The predominant species likely included themammoth, Lena horse, rhino, and bison (Table 1).This range does not reflect the full biodiversity of largemammals of mammoth fauna in Yakutia (up to sixteenspecies) [6]. The remains of widespread Yakutia spe-cies such as the polar fox Alopex lagopus L., fox Vulpesvulpes L., wolverine Gulo gulo L., Pleistocene musk oxOvibos pallantis H. Smith, and Siberian saiga Saigatatarica borealis Tschersky have not yet been foundhere. The remains of predators are rare, and perhapsthey will be found here in the future. Musk ox andsaiga seemingly could have found a suitable habitat inthe predominantly lowland area of the Central YakutiaRegion, but the corresponding findings are rare here.The number of these species could have been signifi-cantly reduced by the Upper Paleolithic humans [6],whose dwelling sites were found along the MiddleLena River not long ago [7].Based on fossil remains of the bighorn, this speciesinhabited both sides of the Lena River in the LateNeopleistocene during both the Karginsk Interstadial[8] and the Sartan Glacial (Table 2). Today, O. nivicoladoes not inhabit these areas, being a typical mountainspecies [9, 10]. Fossil findings of bighorn sheep in theriverine areas of the Central Yakutia plain and near-Lena plateau, where some highlands reach (andreached in the Pleistocene) only 200–300 metersabove sea level, are indicative of the fact that this spe-cies was able to inhabit the lowlands and even theplains in the Pleistocene [11].In 2014, a fragment of the cave lion’s skull Pantheraspelaea Goldfuss (Fig. 2) was found near the BuotamaRiver mouth, which is indicative of the fact that thispredator inhabited the Middle Lena basin. TheKarginsk age of this finding is likely to be substantiated(Table 2), because this very thermochrone was markedby wide occurrence of the cave lion in the EasternSiberia Region [6].The radiocarbon dating of the Lena horse remainsin Chasovnya Creek (Table 2) is indicative of the factthat this species was not extinct in the Central YakutiaRegion at the end of the Pleistocene and existed herein the early Holocene. Previously, it was thought thatE. lenensis inhabited only the far north of Yakutia inthe Holocene [12, 13].In 2011, a fragment of a primeval bison’s skull witha very large horn core (high curvature length of655 mm, base circumference of 420 mm), one of thelargest fragments found in Yakutia, was discovered onUlakhan-Ary Island [12]. By the horn core size, thissample is more similar to the Middle Neopleistocenelarge bison B. priscus crassicornis Rich. than to theLate Neopleistocene bison B. priscus occidentalisLucas. Alongside with that, according to the radiocar-bon dating, the age of this finding can be estimated atthe end of the Late Neopleistocene and the end of theKarginsk Interstadial. The obtained data point to theTable 1. Large mammals of mammoth fauna inhabiting the Middle Lena basin (Lenskie Stolby and adjacent areas)(+) Presence of species in paleontological and archeological collections, (–) absence of species.Order, speciesKutalaakhQuarryUlakhan-AryIslandBuotama R.ChasovnyaDiring–Yuryakh Cr.Labyia Cr.Kuranakh Cr.BatamaiySanga–SaiylykMouthKuokhKhayaCARNIVORESWolf Canis lupus – – – – + – – – – –Brown bear Ursus arctos – + + – – – – + – –Cave lion Panthera spelaea – – + – – – – – – –PROBOSCIDEANSWoolly mammoth Mammuthus primigenius – + + + + + + + – +PERISSODACTYLSLena horse Equus lenensis + + + – + + + + + –Woolly rhino Coelodonta antiquitatis + + + – + + + + + +ARTIODACTYLSRed deer Cervus elaphus – + + – + + + + – –Moose, similar to American species, Alces cf. americanus + + + – – + + + + –Reindeer Rangifer tarandus – + + – + + + + – –Primeval bison Bison priscus + + + – + + + + + –Bighorn sheep Ovis nivicola – + + – – + – + + +650DOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 469  Part 1  2016BOESKOROV et al.necessity to revise the B. priscus intraspecific taxon-omy in Yakutia.According to А.I. Tomskaya, bone-bearing hori-zons in the Kuranakh and Kuokh Khaya areas wereformed in the Karginsk period [4]. Many radiocarbondates of animal bones from the Middle Lena River(Ulakhan-Ary Island; Buotama River mouth; andDiring–Yuryakh, Labyia, and Kuranakh creeks) canbe considered to be Karginsk (30 000–41 500 years) orpresumably Karginsk (>37 600, 37 900, 40 000, and45 000 years). Only two dates can be referred to theSartan Glacial (17 500 and 20 500 years) (Table 2).Hence, the mass burials of Pleistocene mammalremains were formed near Lenskie Stolby during theKarginsk Interstadial (24 000–55 000 years ago). Thisperiod of warming in summer was characterized by theformation of thermokarst “traps,” swamps, and wet-lands, where mammoths, woolly rhinos, and otherlarge massive animals sank and died [12, 14].The revised species composition of the mammothfauna in the Middle Lena basin and new radiocarbondates will be used for further biostratigraphic subdivi-sion of the Upper Neopleistocene sediments in theregion.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThis study was mainly carried out at the Institute ofDiamond and Precious Metal Geology, SiberianBranch, Russian Academy of Sciences, and supportedby the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, projectno. 15-44-05109 r_vostok_а.REFERENCES1. G. G. Boeskorov, N. D. Kirillin, P. A. Lazarev, andV. V. Testsov, Probl. Regional. Ekol., No. 2, 106–109(2008).Table 2. Radiocarbon dating of mammoth bone remains from the Lenskie Stolby areaDates were obtained at the following institutions: (GrA) University of Groningen, the Netherlands; (SOAN) Sobolev Institute of Geol-ogy and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk; (GIN) Geological Institute, Russian Academy ofSciences, Moscow; (OxA) Oxford University, Great Britain; (AA) Arizona University, Tucson, United States.Animal species Location Material14С absolute age, years ago, source–laboratory numberCave lion Panthera spelaea Buotama R., 3 km from mouthSkull fragment 41540 ± 355 (GrA-62445)Woolly mammoth MammuthusprimigeniusKuranakh Cr. Skull fragment >40000 (SOAN-7837)Woolly rhino Coelodonta antiquitatis Labyia Cr. Skull fragment 36200 ± 330 (SOAN-7838)Lena horse Equus lenensis Chasovnya Cr. Lower jaw fragment 9790 ± 60 (GIN-14697)Red deer Cervus elaphus Kuranakh Cr. Antler fragment 17400 ± 200 (GIN-11024)Kuranakh Cr. Antler fragment 35810 ± 280 (GIN-14701)Kuranakh Cr. Antler fragment 36 470 ± 280 (OxA-18925) [15]Kuranakh Cr. Antler fragment >37600 (AA-34500)Ulakhan-Ary Isl. Antler fragment >37900 (AA-34499)Buotama R. Antler fragment 29980 ± 160 (OxA-18920) [15]Diring–Yuryakh Cr. Skull fragment 30010 ± 230 (OxA-20921) [15]Bison Bison priscus Kuranakh Cr. Skull fragment 31560 ± 240 (GIN-14696)Bighorn sheep Ovis nivicola Kuranakh Cr. Skull fragment >45000 (GrA-38803)Edyai R., Sanga–Saiylyk Skull fragment >40000 (GIN-14409)Sinyaa R., mouth area Skull fragment 20520 ± 95 (GrA-62466)Fig. 2. A fragment of the cave lion’s skull found near theBuotama River. 5 cmDOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 469  Part 1  2016NEW DATA ON MAMMOTH FAUNA MAMMALS 6512. M. N. Alekseev, V. A. Kamaletdinov, H. Zigert,O. V. Grinenko, Z. N. Gnibidenko, et al., GeologicalProblems on Palaeolithic Monument Diring-Yuryakh(Yakut Production Geological Association, Yakutsk,1990) [in Russian].3. A. I. Sergeenko, I. N. Belolyubskii, and G. G. Boe-skorov, in Proc. All-Russian Scientific and PracticalConf. on Geology, Mineral and Raw Material Resources ofthe North-East of Russia (M. K. Ammosov North-East-ern Federal Univ., Yakutsk, 2014), pp. 433–438.4. G. G. Boeskorov, N. N. Burnashev, and N. G. Solo-monov, Nauka Obraz., No. 2, 95–97 (1998).5. V. A. Kamaletdinov and P. S. Minyuk, Byull. Kom.Izuch. Chetvertichn. Perioda, Akad. Nauk SSSR,No. 60, 67–68 (1991).6. G. G. Boeskorov and G. F. Baryshnikov, Late Quater-nary Carnivore Mammals in Yakutia (Nauka, St. Peters-burg, 2013) [in Russian].7. D. A. Pesterev, in Natural Park “Lena Pillars”: Past,Present and Future. Collection of Scientific Works (Inst.Biol. Probl. Cryolithozone Siberian Branch Russ.Acad. Sci., Yakutsk, 2007), pp. 84–98 [in Russian].8. G. G. Boeskorov, P. R. Nogovitsyn, A. N. Tikhonov,and N. G. Solomonov, Dokl. Biol. Sci. 439, 244–247(2011).9. Yu. V. Revin, L. V. Sopin, and N. K. Zheleznov, Moun-tain Sheep (Nauka, Novosibirsk, 1988) [in Russian].10. A. A. Krivoshapkin and F. G. Yakovlev, VerkhoyanskMountain Sheep (Sakhapoligrafizdat, Yakutsk, 1999)[in Russian].11. G. G. Boeskorov, Zool. Zh. 80 (2), 243–256 (2001).12. P. A. Lazarev, Great Mammals of Yakut Anthropogen(Nauka, Novosibirsk, 2008) [in Russian].13. G. G. Boeskorov, O. R. Potapova, E. N. Mashchenko,A. V. Protopopov, T. V. Kuznetsova, L. Agenbroad, andA. N. Tikhonov, Integr. Zool. 9 (4), 471–480 (2014).14. N. K. Vereshchagin, Why Did Mammoths Die out?(Nauka, Leningrad, 1979) [in Russian].15. M. Meiri, A. M. Lister, M. J. Collins, N. Tuross,T. Goebel, S. Blockley, G. D. Zazula, N. van Doorn,R. D. Guthrie, G. G. Boeskorov, G. F. Baryshnikov,A. Sher, and I. Barnes, Proc. R. Soc. B 281 (1776),20132167 (2014).Translated by E. Maslennikova

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This paper considers the data on new findings of mammoth fauna remains in the Middle Lena basin used to specify the species composition of large Late Neopleistocene mammals represented by eleven species. The obtained range of radiocarbon dates made it possible to state that mass burials of Pleistocene mammal remains were formed in the region during the Karginsk Interstadial (24 000-55 000 years ago).</p

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New data on mammoth fauna mammals in the central Lena River basin (Yakutia, Lenskie Stolby National Nature Park and adjacent areas)

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