Evolution of the European regional large mammals assemblages in the end of the Middle Pleistocene – The first half of the Late Pleistocene (MIS 6–MIS 4)

Multi-isotope zooarchaeological investigations at Abri du Maras: The paleoecological and paleoenvironmental context of Neanderthal subsistence strategies in the Rhône Valley during MIS 3

“…While the Last Glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 4-2; ~74-12 ka) was marked by climate fluctuations, MIS 3 (~57-29 ka) was a period of profound climatic instability, characterized by short-term and acute climatic oscillations (Voelker, 2002;Barron et al, 2003;Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005;Clement and Peterson, 2008;Kindler et al, 2014). While long-term species distribution and turnover is generally well characterized in the Late Pleistocene (Kahlke, 2014;Puzachenko et al, 2020), the impact contemporary climatic changes would have had on the behaviors of ungulate species is less well known, and the relationships between rapid climatic shifts and the dietary and migratory behaviors of ungulate species are poorly characterized. In turn, the interactions 4 between changes in prey-species behavior and hominin subsistence strategies can be difficult to elucidate.…”

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Complete Mitochondrial Genomes in the Ten Rupicapra Subspecies and Implications for the Existence of Multiple Glacial Refugia in Europe

“…In addition, the survival of species in Central European refugia and the Carpathian region before the Last Glacial Maximum (23–16 kya) has been shown [ 3 , 31 ]. It can be noted that the region to the north of the Balkan Peninsula in the central and Eastern Europe was not glaciated during the Riss (=Saale) glacial time (MIS Marine Isotope State 6: (~200/191–140/130 kya) and that Rupicapra remains were identified there all along the interval of MIS 6-MIS 4, at the end of the Middle and the first half of the Late Pleistocene [ 5 ]. Our data are consistent with the idea that temperate species such as the chamois occurred across a large part of Europe in Central European refugia as well as in Anatolia and the Caucasus during the glacial periods of Pleistocene.…”

“…The pattern revealed for many plant and animal species led to the widely accepted hypothesis of three southern refugia in the southern peninsulas (Iberia, Italy, and the Balkans) and the posterior recolonization of the northern wards. However, the consideration of faunal assemblages of archeological sites during the Last Glacial Maximum (23 to 16 kya) showed the presence of temperate species in southwestern France and the Carpathian regions [ 3 , 4 , 5 ]. In addition, some phylogeographic studies suggested that areas of the south of the Caucasus constituted a further refugium to the East [ 6 ].…”

Late Middle—Early Late Pleistocene Mammoths from the Lower Don River Region (Russia)

“…However, the resurrection of the species M. intermedius [16] made it possible to systematize the finds and avoid informal taxonomic determinations. The time of appearance of M. primigenius in Continental Europe is considered to be MIS 4 [58]. Considering the materials from the Lower Volga and the Lower Don Regions, we specified the species' diagnosis based on the material from France.…”