Central European Woolly Mammoth Population Dynamics: Insights from Late Pleistocene Mitochondrial Genomes

Recent detailed investigations of landforms, soils and surface deposits of the Borisoglebsk Upland northeastern slope within the Nero Lake basin (Central European Russia, Yaroslavl Region) allowed deciphering co-evolution of the major landscape components of the case study area since the Late Pleistocene. The Late Pleistocene to Holocene transition in the gully network was represented by relatively short but high-magnitude (up to 12 m) incision phase followed by significant infill till 6.5 ka. Absence of the well-developed early Holocene paleosols in the studied sections and cores suggests dominantly negative sediment budget. There is so far limited evidence of sedimentation over the first half of the Holocene. Discontinuous deposition with certain interruptions (but without distinct buried soil formation) occurred only within closed depressions and on gully fans. The second part of the Holocene prior to the widespread human settlement left more substantial traces in soil and sediment record. Despite the common perception of the pristine boreal forest landscapes to be geomorphologically stable due to erosion-protective role of woodland vegetation, several phases of dramatically increased soil and gully erosion rates have been identified. It is identified in soil bodies and sediments, both at locations dominated by denudation (evidences of multiple topsoil truncation in Atlantic and Subatlantic) and at zones of alternating incision and infill of small linear erosion features. Such extremes were most likely associated with combination of several triggers including natural forest fires and high-magnitude rainfall or snowmelt runoff events. There are several 14C dated layers of pyrogenic charcoal indicating pre-anthropogenic wildfire-induced incision and infill cycles during the middle and late Holocene.The last phases of increased hillslope and fluvial activity within the study area can be related to increased human interference, starting from about 1600-900 years ago. The onset of cut-and-burn cultivation is independently established from available archeological evidences, dating of cut and burnt tree logs remnants, organic material buried by agrogenic colluvium and gully fans. Latest period of intensive gully growth can most likely be attributed to the XIXth Century land tenure reform, when most of the study area gullies experienced significant linear growth, bottom incisions and appearance of several new gully branches. The most recent trend of soil and gully erosion has been evaluated by 137Cs sediment tracing, soil empirical modeling and comparison of historical and modern maps, airborne photos and satellite images. Rates of soil redistribution on slopes decreased significantly over the last several decades due to combination of natural and anthropogenic impacts: 1) decreased spring snowmelt runoff caused mainly by generally lowered thickness of seasonally frozen topsoil layer; 2) arable land abandonment or shift from row crops and cereals to perennial grass-dominated crop rotations in the post-Soviet period. In addition, local short-term (from several years to within-year) cycles of relatively low-magnitude (not exceeding &#177;1 m range) incision and infill in gullies are often triggered by biogenic activities, namely beaver dam constructions and breaches and local log jams.The study is supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 19-77-10061) and Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project No. 19-29-05238).

Download Full-text

Mammoths, Deer, and a Dog: Fossil and (Sub) Recent Allochthonous Remains from the Northeastern Croatia (Podravina Region), with the First Radiocarbon Dating of the Croatian Woolly Mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius)

Quaternary ◽

10.3390/quat1020011 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jadranka Mauch Lenardić ◽

Siniša Radović ◽

Ankica Oros Sršen ◽

Nada Horvatinčić ◽

Petar Kostešić ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Cervus Elaphus ◽

Red Deer ◽

Pannonian Basin ◽

Canis Familiaris ◽

Mammuthus Primigenius ◽

Maxillary Bone ◽

Fluvial Deposits ◽

Animal Remains ◽

Woolly Mammoth

Eight anatomically and taxonomically different finds are presented in this paper, and they belong to four taxa: woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), giant deer (Megaloceros giganteus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), and dog (Canis familiaris). All specimens represent allochthonous Late Pleistocene and Holocene animal remains, and all were dredged during the gravel exploitation at the Sekuline site near Molve (Podravina region, SW Pannonian basin, NE Croatia). Mammoth remains (bone and tusk fragments) were radiocarbon dated, and these are the first absolute dates on mammoths in Croatia. One upper last left deciduous premolar (dP4 sin.) also belongs to the same species. Ascribed to a dog is one well-preserved skull with a peculiar abscess scar on the maxillary bone as the result of an inflammatory process on the carnassial (P4) premolar. The Late Pleistocene cervid remains are giant deer, while the other cervid finds were determined to be red deer of the Holocene age. Morphometrical and taphonomical data are presented for each specimen. Such fossil and recent bone/tooth aggregates are characteristic of fluvial deposits and selective collecting. Although lacking stratigraphic provenance, these finds help to fulfil the gaps in palaeoenvironmental, palaeoecological, and palaeoclimate reconstructions of Podravina and its neighbouring areas.

Download Full-text

Late Pleistocene climate change and population dynamics of Japanese Myodes voles inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences

Journal of Mammalogy ◽

10.1093/jmammal/gyz093 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 100 (4) ◽

pp. 1156-1168 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Asuka Honda ◽

Shota Murakami ◽

Masashi Harada ◽

Kimiyuki Tsuchiya ◽

Gohta Kinoshita ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Cytochrome B ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

Evolutionary Dynamics ◽

Glacial Maximum ◽

Rapid Expansion ◽

Historical Background ◽

Mitochondrial Cytochrome ◽

Genetic Structuring ◽

Mitochondrial Cytochrome B

Abstract The Japanese archipelago is comprised of four main islands—Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—which contain high mountainous areas that likely allowed for lineage differentiation and population genetic structuring during the climatic changes of the late Pleistocene. Here, we assess the historical background of the evolutionary dynamics of herbivorous red-backed voles (Myodes) in Japan, examining the evolutionary trends of mitochondrial cytochrome b gene (Cytb) sequence variation. Four apparent signals from rapid expansion events were detected in three species, M. rufocanus and M. rutilus from Hokkaido and M. smithii from central Honshu. Taken together with results from previous studies on Japanese wood mice (Apodemus spp.), three of the expansion events were considered to be associated with predicted bottleneck events at the marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 period, in which glaciers are thought to have expanded extensively, especially at higher elevations. In the late Pleistocene, the possible candidates are transitions MIS 6/5, MIS 4/3, and MIS 2/1, which can be characterized by the cold periods of the penultimate glacial maximum, MIS 4, and the last glacial maximum, respectively. Our data further reveal the genetic footprints of repeated range expansion and contraction in the northern and southern lineages of the vole species currently found in central Honshu, namely M. andersoni and M. smithii, in response to climatic oscillation during the late Pleistocene. The time-dependent evolutionary rates of the mitochondrial Cytb presented here would provide a possible way for assessing population dynamics of cricetid rodents responding to the late Pleistocene environmental fluctuation.

Download Full-text

Mammuthus Population Dynamics in Late Pleistocene North America: Divergence, Phylogeography, and Introgression

Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution ◽

10.3389/fevo.2016.00042 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Jacob Enk ◽

Alison Devault ◽

Christopher Widga ◽

Jeffrey Saunders ◽

Paul Szpak ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

North America ◽

Late Pleistocene

Download Full-text

Geoarchaeological contexts for Late Pleistocene archaeological sites with human-modified woolly mammoth remains in southeastern Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Geoarchaeology ◽

10.1002/gea.10052 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 91-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

David F. Overstreet ◽

Michael F. Kolb

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Woolly Mammoth

Download Full-text

Remains of large mammals from the Epigravettian site of Yudinovo

Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS ◽

10.31610/trudyzin/2021.325.1.71 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 325 (1) ◽

pp. 71-81

Author(s):

M.V. Sablin ◽

K.Yu. Iltsevich

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Arctic Fox ◽

Body Parts ◽

Large Mammals ◽

Symbolic System ◽

Faunal Assemblage ◽

Stable Isotopic ◽

Milk Teeth ◽

Cultural Layers ◽

Woolly Mammoth

The Epigravettian site of Yudinovo (Bryansk oblast, Russia) was discovered in 1930 by K.M. Polikarpovich. It is located in the Sudost’ river valley and has a unique stratigraphy. This article presents the results of the study of the remains of large mammals from Yudinovo and also discusses their significance in revising the former interpretation of the existence of the site during the very end of the final part of the Late Pleistocene. In total, 38 268 mammalian bones were identified from cultural layers excavated between 1947–2019. The faunal assemblage is relatively small with a dominance of woolly mammoth and arctic fox, typical of a cold and dry tundra-steppe environment. We undertook stable isotopic tracking from samples of bones. Our analyses confirm the hunting of both adult and juvenile larger mammals by ancient humans. Based on the eruption sequence and wear of the milk teeth from young animals, we were able to clarify the season of their death. It seems that these individuals were hunted during the late spring or early autumn. Traces of gnawing by dogs were recorded on a few bones. We also present in this article the results of the study of so-called “dwellings”, constructed by stacking up body parts and bones that were extracted from carcasses of freshly killed mammoths. We interpret these structures as middens representing the remains of ritually deposited hunted game. It can be assumed that these “dwellings” were probably an important part of the socio-symbolic system of the peoples, who created them.

Download Full-text

Old wild wolves: ancient DNA survey unveils population dynamics in Late Pleistocene and Holocene Italian remains

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.6424 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e6424 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Marta Maria Ciucani ◽

Davide Palumbo ◽

Marco Galaverni ◽

Patrizia Serventi ◽

Elena Fabbri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Population Dynamics ◽

Genetic Variability ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Hypervariable Region ◽

Chronological Period ◽

Complex Population ◽

The Last Glacial Maximum ◽

Mitochondrial Clade ◽

The Last Glacial

Background The contemporary Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) represents a case of morphological and genetic uniqueness. Today, Italian wolves are also the only documented population to fall exclusively within the mitochondrial haplogroup 2, which was the most diffused across Eurasian and North American wolves during the Late Pleistocene. However, the dynamics leading to such distinctiveness are still debated. Methods In order to shed light on the ancient genetic variability of this wolf population and on the origin of its current diversity, we collected 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene samples from northern Italy, which we analyzed at a short portion of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA, highly informative for wolf and dog phylogenetic analyses. Results Four out of the six detected haplotypes matched the ones found in ancient wolves from northern Europe and Beringia, or in modern European and Chinese wolves, and appeared closely related to the two haplotypes currently found in Italian wolves. The haplotype of two Late Pleistocene samples matched with primitive and contemporary dog sequences from the canine mitochondrial clade A. All these haplotypes belonged to haplogroup 2. The only exception was a Holocene sample dated 3,250 years ago, affiliated to haplogroup 1. Discussion In this study we describe the genetic variability of the most ancient wolf specimens from Italy analyzed so far, providing a preliminary overview of the genetic make-up of the population that inhabited this area from the last glacial maximum to the Middle Age period. Our results endorsed that the genetic diversity carried by the Pleistocene wolves here analyzed showed a strong continuity with other northern Eurasian wolf specimens from the same chronological period. Contrarily, the Holocene samples showed a greater similarity only with modern sequences from Europe and Asia, and the occurrence of an haplogroup 1 haplotype allowed to date back previous finding about its presence in this area. Moreover, the unexpected discovery of a 24,700-year-old sample carrying a haplotype that, from the fragment here obtained, falls within the canine clade A, could represent the oldest evidence in Europe of such dog-rich clade. All these findings suggest complex population dynamics that deserve to be further investigated based on mitochondrial or whole genome sequencing.

Download Full-text