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

Baryshnikov, G. F.

Boeskorov, G. G.

Cheprasov, M. Yu.

Grigoriev, S. E.

Klimovsky, A. I.

Novgorodov, G. P.

Protopopov, A. V.

Shchelchkova, M. V.

Tikhonov, A. N.

van der Plicht, J.

NARCIS 

New Data on Large Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758, Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene in Yakutia

ARTS repository - University of Groningen

   University of GroningenNew Data on Large Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758, Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) fromthe Pleistocene in YakutiaBoeskorov, G. G.; Baryshnikov, G. F.; Tikhonov, A. N.; Protopopov, A. V.; Klimovsky, A. I.;Grigoriev, S. E.; Cheprasov, M. Yu.; Novgorodov, G. P.; Shchelchkova, M. V.; van der Plicht,J.Published in:Doklady Earth SciencesDOI:10.1134/S1028334X19060242IMPORTANT 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:2019Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research databaseCitation for published version (APA):Boeskorov, G. G., Baryshnikov, G. F., Tikhonov, A. N., Protopopov, A. V., Klimovsky, A. I., Grigoriev, S. E.,Cheprasov, M. Y., Novgorodov, G. P., Shchelchkova, M. V., & van der Plicht, J. (2019). New Data on LargeBrown Bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758, Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene in Yakutia.Doklady Earth Sciences, 486(2), 617-622. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1028334X19060242CopyrightOther 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.ISSN 1028-334X, Doklady Earth Sciences, 2019, Vol. 486, Part 2, pp. 617–622. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2019.Russian Text © The Author(s), 2019, published in Doklady Akademii Nauk, 2019, Vol. 486, No. 6.GEOLOGYNew Data on Large Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758, Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene in YakutiaG. G. Boeskorova,b,*, G. F. Baryshnikovc, A. N. Tikhonovc, A. V. Protopopovb, A. I. Klimovskyb,S. E. Grigorievd, M. Yu. Cheprasovd, G. P. Novgorodovd, M. V. Shchelchkovae, and J. van der PlichtfPresented by Academician A.F. Alimov March 29, 2017Received May 5, 2017Abstract—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: mostdimensions of these specimens exceed those of the present-day brown bears of Yakutia and even the maximalparameters of the largest individuals of the present-day Eurasian subspecies U. a. beringianus and U. a. pisca-tor. Analysis of various data showed that giant brown bears had inhabited northern Yakutia during the Kargin-ian interstadial in the Late Pleistocene.DOI: 10.1134/S1028334X19060242The brown bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758) is a wide-spread species that inhabits the forest zone of Yakutia[1]. The association with forest habitats explains whyU. arctos Pleistocene finds are rare in the northern partof Eastern Siberia, where open tundra–steppe andsteppefied landscapes prevailed during the Pleistocene[2–5].The most ancient Pleistocene U. arctos remainsfound in Yakutia date from the beginning of the Mid-dle Pleistocene [5, 6]. A large bear similar to U. a. kami-ensis is supposed to have existed in the area at theabove-mentioned time, whereas a smaller U. a. priscusinhabited the area during the end of the Middle Pleis-61a Institute of Diamond and Precious Metals Geology, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk, 677007 Russiab Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, 677007 Russiac Institute of Zoology, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, 199034 Russiad Research Institute for Applied Ecology of the North, Ammosov Northeastern Federal University, Yakutsk, 677013 Russiae Institute of Natural Sciences, Ammosov Northeastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russiaf Centre for Isotope Research, University of Groningen, Groningen, NL-9747 the Netherlands*e-mail: gboeskorov@mail.rutocene and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene, andthe small U. arctos ssp. bear of a size similar to that ofthe modern Yakutian brown bear replaced it at the endof the Pleistocene [5].A very large U. arctos skull (ММ 7774; Table 1) wasfound in 2002 on the shore of Yana Bay [7]. Radiocar-bon dating performed at the University of Kiel (Ger-many) showed that the age of the skull was 42640 +870/–790 years (KIA-32 836). This was the first evi-dence of the presence of a large brown bear form onthe territory of Yakutia in the Karginian time of theLate Pleistocene.New fossil remains of several exceptionally largebrown bear individuals discovered in 2015‒2016 innorthern Yakutia are described in this article. Theabbreviations used are as follows: IDPMG, Institute ofDiamond and Precious Metals Geology, SiberianBranch, Russian Academy of Sciences; AS, Academyof Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia); MM,Mammoth Museum of the Research Institute forApplied Ecology of the North, Ammosov Northeast-ern Federal University (all in Yakutsk, Russia); MB,Betenkyos settlement museum (Yakutia); SM, ClosedJoint-Stock Company Severnyi Mir (Moscow, Rus-sia). The material consisted of U. arctos skulls andmandibular branches (Figs. 1, 2).All finds described were derived from adult individ-uals, probably males. They are only slightly mineral-ized, as is characteristic for bone remains from theYakutian permafrost of the Karginian‒Sartanian7618 BOESKOROV et al.Table 1. Skull sizes in the fossil and modern Ursus arctosMeasurements, mmYakutia Amur area KamchatkaLate Pleistocene Adult males of the present time [5]Yana RiverYana Bay shore Indigirka River basin U. a. ssp.U. a. beringianusU. a. piscatorYunyugen CreekUlakhan Orto-Stan River [7]Uyandina River, SMOguruokha River n = 66 n = 8 n = 9MM no. 1845MM no. 7774 No. 1 No. 2AS no. 8004Condylobasal length374 398 433 360 421Length of the upper dentition (С–М2)138.3 142.2 (alv.) 149 136.5 149.4Cheek tooth length (Р4–М2 )83.6 80.8 (alv.) 85 82.5 80.6Zygomatic width – 252 283 – 288М2 length 42.8 36 (alv.) 37.1 40.6 37.3±limitХ m ±limitХ m ±limitХ m±285–356320.05 2.15 ±331.5–400.2368.53 8.53 ±329–384369.82 6.00±120–144131.04 0.95 ±125–150134.90 2.01 ±124–149136.22 2.46±63–82.771.87 0.47 ±73–83.578.24 1.33 ±67.2–84.275.97 1.83±185–231209.05 1.43 ±206–246.6228.71 6.17 ±226–265245.44 5.90±29–4134.62 0.28 ±36.2–4339.35 0.94 ±33.4–4337.40 0.91time. The bone surface color varies from yellowishlight brown to dark brown. The ММ 1661 mandibularbranch is mineralized to a higher degree, and its coloris dark brown to almost black, this being characteristicof more ancient bones, which date to the MiddlePleistocene and the beginning of the Late Pleistocene.Bear remains from the Uyandina, Oguruokha, andYunyugen rivers originate from Upper Pleistocenesediments and occur together with the remains of typ-ical mammals of the mammoth fauna, the mammothMammuthus primigenius (Blum.), the steppe bisonBison priscus (Boj.), and the cave lion Panthera spelaea(Goldfuss) [8–11]. The age of the largest bear skullfrom the Uyandina River (SM 1/1) was >45 000 years,as shown by the results of analysis performed at theUniversity of Groningen (Netherlands) (GrA-65241).The degree of preservation of this skull and otherremains of brown bears (3‒4 individuals in total)found in the area, along with the composition ofaccompanying fauna remains, allow for the conclu-sion that the taphocenosis in question was formedduring the Karginian interstadial (25‒60 (65) thou-sand years ago), when special conditions for the deathand burial of mammoth fauna mammals were formed[4, 5, 12].The AS 8004 skull (Fig. 1c; Table 1) was found in2015 in the same outcrop where a skull of sable (Marteszibellina (L.), radiocarbon age >45 000 years, speci-men GrA-62462), apparently from the KarginianDOtime, was found a year earlier. The sable and brownbear, which are forest species, apparently migrated farnorth during the Karginian thermochrone, as theareas with tree vegetation expanded [9].The MM 1845 skull (Fig. 1d) also seems to datefrom the Karginian time, since radiocarbon dating ofmammalian bones from the Yunyugen locationyielded a series of values in the range of 36 300–47 600 years ago (n = 5), this being indicative of boneaccumulation during this interstadial [10].The MM 1661 mandibular bone (Fig. 2c) from theIrelyakh Siene River is apparently of a more ancientage, as is evident from strong mineralization of thespecimen and the presence of remains of several Earlyand Middle Pleistocene species (Olerian fauna) at thesame location [10, 11].The diagnostic features of the finds enable confi-dent attribution to U. arctos [6].Many sizes of fossil brown bear remains exceed thecorresponding sizes of the modern U. arctos fromYakutia. The total jaw length and the c1–m3 dentitionlength in MB 145 noticeably exceeded those of thedental bones of modern Yakutian males and were closeto those of the Kamchatka bears (Table 2).SM 1 and AS 8004 are particularly notable amongthe new finds, since the sizes of these specimens areexceptionally large, with most measurements farexceeding those of the modern brown bears fromKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 486  Part 2  2019NEW DATA ON LARGE BROWN BEAR 619Fig. 1. Skulls of fossil brown bears from Yakutia: a, SM no. 1/1; b, SM no. 2; c, AS no. 8003, all from the Uyandina River, theleft tributary of the Indigirka River; d, AS no. 8004, the Oguruokha River in the Indigirka River basin; e, MM no. 1845, YunyugenCreek, a tributary of the Yana River.10cm0100 5 cmcm010cm010cm0(a)(b)(d) (e)(c)Yakutia and even the maximal parameters of U. a.beringianus and U. a. piscator, the largest Eurasiansubspecies (Tables 1, 2).U. arctos can reach extremely large sizes if a richforage base is available [13]. The modern Yakutianbears live in an area with a severe climate and have arather poor diet. The Yakutian bears eat less food ofanimal origin, and low-calorie plant food predomi-nates in their diet. A small bear ecomorph has formedunder conditions unfavorable for the existence of thespecies; prolonged winter hibernation of 6.5 toDOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 486  Part 2  20197.5 months is a distinctive adaptive feature of this eco-morph [1, 5].Thus, the majority of finds described date from thetime of the Karginian thermochrone, when the expan-sion of forest vegetation, apparently accompanied bythe resettlement of forest species to the north,occurred in northern Siberia. This is apparently evi-denced by the accumulation of fossil U. arctos remainsat the Uyandina River (located to the north of themodern polar circle). The reasons for giantism in thefossil brown bear of northern Yakutia remain difficult620 BOESKOROV et al.Fig. 2. The mandibular bones of fossil brown bears from Yakutia: a, SM no. 1/2, b, AS no. 8002, all from the Uyandina River;c, MM no. 1661, Irelyakh Siene River, a tributary of the Kolyma River.10 cm010 cm010 cm0(a)(b)(c)to explain. The distinctive features of the Karginianwarming, with an increase in the diversity of vegeta-tion, including that of edible plants, apparently facili-tated the size increase. Moreover, deaths of the largestanimals, primarily mammoths and woolly rhinocer-oses, due to soil defrostation were frequent at that time[4, 5, 12]. The bears could have fed on the cadavers ofmammoths, rhinoceroses, and other large herbivores,and preyed on the young of these species [5]. The ten-dency for predation and carrion feeding in the modernU. arctos is intensified during periods of plant foodDOdeficit [13]. The corpses of adult mammoths thatweighed at least 4000‒5000 kg could have providedthe brown bears with protein-rich food for a long time,since the modern bear can feed off a moose carcass(weighing 400‒500 kg) for 7‒10 days, with almost theentire carcass being consumed [14]. Data of isotopeanalysis of the eastern Beringia samples point to theconsumption of mammoth meat by brown bears [15].Larger amounts of food being available apparentlypromoted the increase in the size of the Karginianbrown bear from Yakutia.KLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 486  Part 2  2019DOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 486  Part 2  2019NEW DATA ON LARGE BROWN BEAR 621Table 2. Mandibular bone sizes in Ursus arctosMeasurements,mmPleistoceneHoloceneYakutiaKamchatkaIndigirka River basin, Uyandina RiverKolyma River, Irelyakh Siene, MM no. 1661Lena River, Yunkyur site, Upper Paleolithic [5]Adycha River [5]Aldan River, Mamontova Gora [5]Vilyui River, Syul’dyukar site, Neolithic [5]Present-day malesn = 11 [5]Kyra-Sullar, IDPMGno. 4969Ulakhan Sullar, MBn = 11n = 3, 53SMno. 1/2ASno. 8002no.145no. 146No. 69No. 285limit (X)nlimit (X)Total jaw length321258290>190241268–>194243237228–259 (242.10)53238.7‒289 (265.6)Alveolar length C1–М3177152167133–150147–144141123–145 (136.40)53142.3‒167.5 (155.6)Alveolar length P4–М391.992.290.3818490.7827775.68277.6‒88.0 (80.70)5377.2‒94.3 (85.44)Symphysis length104>7781.4>50ca. 717471–646261–72 (66.37)382–88 (85.67)Height at the cor-onoid process–118.6127–123127––118>110109–132 (120.64)53100‒127.6 (115.56)Height under Р467.356.858.8374752––4646.241–48 (44.10)353–54 (53.33)622 BOESKOROV et al.FUNDINGThis study was conducted within projectno. 0381‒2019‒0002 of the State Assignment for the Insti-tute of Diamond and Precious Metals Geology, SiberianBranch, Russian Academy of Sciences, and State Assign-ment no. 37.7935.2017 / 6.7 from the Ministry of Educationand Science of Russia.REFERENCES1. V. A. Tavrovskii, O. V. Egorov, V. G. Krivosheev,M. V. Popov, and Yu. V. Labutin, Mammals of Yakutia(Nauka, Moscow, 1971) [in Russian].2. A. A. Velichko, Natural Process in the Pleistocene(Nauka, Moscow, 1973) [in Russian].3. B. A. Yurtsev, Relict Steppe Complexes of North-EasternAsia (Nauka, Novosibirsk, 1981) [in Russian].4. P. A. Lazarev, Large Mammals of Anthropogene in Yaku-tia (Nauka, Novosibirsk, 2008) [in Russian].5. G. G. Boeskorov and G. F. Baryshnikov, Late Quater-nary Carnivorous Mammals of Yakutia (Nauka, St.Petersburg, 2013) [in Russian].6. G. F. Baryshnikov, Ursidae (Nauka, St. Petersburg,2007) [in Russian].7. G. Baryshnikov and G. Boeskorov, Russ. J. Theriol. 3(2), 71–75 (2004).8. E. Mashchenko, G. Boeskorov, O. Potapova, andA. Protopopov, Nauka Zhizn, No. 6, 24–32 (2016).9. G. G. Boeskorov, G. F. Baryshnikov, A. V. Protopopov,V. V. Plotnikov, E. N. MashchenkoProc. 57th Sess.Paleontol. Soc., Russ. Acad. Sci., et al., in (KarpinskyRuss. Geol. Res. Inst., St. Petersburg, 2016), pp. 224–225 [in Russian].10. S. E. Grigor’ev, M. Yu. Cheprasov, G. N. Savvinov,A. N. Tikhonov, G. P. Novgorodov, et al., Vestn. Sev.-Vost. Fed. Univ. im. M. K. Ammosova, No. 1, 20–35(2017).11. M. Yu. Cheprasov, T. F. Obade, S. E. Grigor’ev,G. P. Novgorodov, and V. A. Marareskul, Vestn. Sev.-Vost. Fed. Univ. im. M. K. Ammosova, No. 6, 53–68(2015).12. N. K. Vereshchagin, Why Mammoths Died off? (Nauka,Leningrad, 1979) [in Russian].13. V. G. Geptner, N. P. Naumov, P. B. Yurgenson,L. L. Sludskii, L. F. Chirkova, and L. G. Bannikov,Steller’s Sea Cows and Carnivores, Vol. 2: Mammals ofthe Soviet Union (Vyssh. Shkola, Moscow, 1967) [inRussian].14. Yu. P. Yazan, Hunting Animals (Kirovskoe Otd. Volgo-Vyatskogo Knizhn. Izd., Kirov, 1972) [in Russian].15. K. Fox-Dobbs, J. A. Leonard, and P. L. Koch, Palaeo-geogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 261, 30–46(2008).Translated by S. SemenovaDOKLADY EARTH SCIENCES  Vol. 486  Part 2  2019

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New Data on Large Brown Bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758, Ursidae, Carnivora, Mammalia) from the Pleistocene in Yakutia

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