mammoth's mysterious companion: the materials of the Republican ecological and paleontological camp for schoolchildren “Tusk,” years 1997–2013

This article deals with a unique discovery. In 2010, a school expedition found an obscure skull of a woolly rhinoceros on Mamontova Mountain in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Young paleontologists with their leader P. D. Maksimov conducted an anatomical study of the woolly rhinoceros' fossil skull. During the entire period (years 1973–2021) of the camp's existence, young paleontologists have found the remains of 57 animal fossils. All the materials found during the expeditions have been stored in the museum-laboratory at the Republican Ecological-Paleontological Camp of Schoolchildren “Tusk.” Among the gathered paleontological finds, the young researchers were attracted to rhinoceros skulls found at different times near various excavations. The expedition participants have put forward the hypothesis that during the period of the flourishing of the mammoth fauna, there might have been some species or subspecies of woolly rhinoceros on the territory of Paleoyakutia besides the Lena species. The results of the research were highly appreciated by the experts of the republican scientific conferences.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE MIS 3 MEGAFAUNA IN SOUTHEASTERN WEST SIBERIA AND THE POSSIBILITY OF LATE SURVIVAL OF THE KHOZARIAN STEPPE MAMMOTH (MAMMUTHUS TROGONTHERII CHOSARICUS)

ABSTRACT We report a new series of radiocarbon (14C) dates on the MIS 3 megafauna for a previously poorly studied region of southeastern West Siberia. Some species, like woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, and Pleistocene bison and horse, existed throughout the MIS 3 (ca. 29–59 ka cal BP); cave hyaena is dated to ca. 46,400 cal BP. The very late 14C dates on Khozarian steppe elephant (Mammuthus trogontherii chosaricus), ca. 45,100–45,400 cal BP, may indicate the survival of this species in Siberia up to MIS 3. More work is needed to confirm or reject this suggestion. Previously, Khozarian steppe elephant was known in Siberia only at the beginning of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e).

Late Pleistocene palaeoecology and phylogeography of woolly rhinoceroses

The woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) was a cold-adapted herbivore, widely distributed from western Europe to north-east Siberia during the Late Pleistocene. Previous studies associate the extinction of the species ~14,000 years before present to climatic and vegetational changes, and suggest that later survival of populations in north-east Siberia may relate to the later persistence of open vegetation in that region. Here, we analyzed carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes and mitochondrial DNA sequences to elucidate the evolutionary ecology of the species. Our dataset comprised 286 woolly rhinoceros isotopic records, including 192 unpublished records, from across the species range, dating from >58,600 14C years to ~14,000 years before present. Crucially, we present the first 71 isotopic records available to date of the 15,000 years preceding woolly rhinoceros extinction. The data reveal ecological flexibility and geographical variation in woolly rhinoceros stable isotope compositions through time. In north-east Siberia, we detected δ15N stability through time. This could reflect long-term environmental stability, and might have enabled the later survival of the species in the region. To further investigate the palaeoecology of woolly rhinoceroses, we compared their isotopic compositions with that of other contemporary herbivores. This analysis suggests possible niche partitioning between woolly rhinoceros and both horse (Equus spp.) and woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), and isotopic similarities between woolly rhinoceros and both musk ox (Ovibos moschatus) and saiga (Saiga tatarica) at different points in time. To provide phylogeographical context to the isotopic data, we analyzed 61 published mitochondrial control region sequences. The data show a lack of geographic structuring; we found three haplogroups with overlapping distributions, all of which show a signal of expansion during the Last Glacial Maximum. Furthermore, our genetic findings support the notion that environmental stability in Siberia had an impact on the paleoecology of woolly rhinoceroses in the region. Our study highlights the utility of combining stable isotopic records with ancient DNA to advance our knowledge of the evolutionary ecology of past populations and extinct species.

Paleolityczna kolonizacja południowych rubieży zachodniomałopolskiej wyżyny lessowej / Palaeolithic colonization of the southern border of the Western Lesser Poland loess highlands

This text presents the oldest traces of human settlement from the area of Igołomia and Wawrzeńczyce, Kraków district and adjacent areas. It covers a period of time from about 35,000 to 10,000 years ago, which is the end of the Last Ice Age, when areas of Europe were inhabited by hunter-gatherer groups. Unfortunately, only a very small number of finds come from Poland, and in particular from the area in question. Most often these are single discoveries of Pleistocene megafauna, mainly bones and teeth of a mammoth and a woolly rhinoceros. This study presents, among others, finds from Stręgoborzyce, remains of Pleistocene fauna from Wawrzeńczyce, and a cluster of flint products from Glew discovered on the surface of a field. In addition, the text contains information on sites from the areas of Kraków-Nowa Huta and Jaksice, which are of great importance for learning about Upper Palaeolithic settlement encompassing the microregion, whose central place is now occupied by the commune of Igołomia-Wawrzeńczyce.

The Upper Pleistocene stratigraphy of the Starunya site as a “bridge” between the stratigraphical frameworks of Western Europe and the plain area of Ukraine

The first discoveries of mummified carcasses of the woolly rhinoceros, mammoth, horse, roe deer and other animals were made at a depth of 12 m in the course of mining work at an ozokerite mine near the village of the Starunia. In 1929 an expedition of the Academy of Arts and Sciences from Krakow, when investigating the mine at a depth of 17 m, found the remains of 3 more woolly rhinoceroses. There were also numerous bones of small vertebrates (rodents), artichokes, numerous insects, beetles, parasitic worms, fleas, butterflies, spiders, snails, vascular plants, seeds and branches of dwarf birch, alder, and other representatives of tundra flora. In March 1977, after the earthquake in the Vrancha Mountains (Romania), the first and still the only mud volcano in the Carpathians, which added an entirely new “ note “ to the Starunia paleontological location , arose on the ozokerite deposit. In the 1970s-80s several dozen remains of ancient man from the late Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods were discovered. In 2004-2009, two Ukrainian-Polish expeditions were organized. The results of both expeditions were published in 2005 in the book «Polish and Ukrainian Geological Studies (2004-2005) at Starunia – the area of discoveries of Woolly Rhinoceros» and the scientific collection «Interdisciplinary Studies (2006-2009) at Starunia (Carpathian Region, Ukraine). The main achievements are set forth in 17 articles and relate to the geological environment, geomorphology, lithology, stratigraphy and paleography of the Holocene deposits, their palynological and paleobotanical characteristics, chronostratigraphy and environmental changes during the period of the late Pleistocene and Holocene, and also research by methods of electric probe, gravity and microgravity survey, geochemical analysis, microbiological characteristics and bitumen of Quaternary deposits. An important result was the discovery of the most productive area where the remains of giant mammals and even Pleistocene Cro-Magnon could still be found at depths. All the numerous interdisciplinary research of Polish and Ukrainian scientists confirms the uniqueness of Starunia on a global scale, requiring the preservation and further study of the paleontological finds and of the only mud volcano in the Carpathians. Such findings can onlybe made by organizing the Starunia International Ecological and Tourist Center «Geopark Ice Age».