Extinction of the woolly mammoth (<i>Mammuthus primigenius</i>) and woolly rhinoceros (<i>Coelodonta antiquitatis</i>) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues

Kuzmin, Yaroslav V.

doi:10.1111/j.1502-3885.2009.00122.x

Cited by 85 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 95 publications

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“…2 range from 35.3 to 40.0 ka BP, in agreement with the minimum age estimated from macrofossils. The mean value of 37.7 ± 1.7 ka BP falls in the range of ages reported for big Pleistocene mammals from other locations in Europe (Stuart and Lister 2007;Kuzmin 2010). The lack of some inner organs and a big cut on the abdominal side of woolly rhinoceros No.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 51%

Radiocarbon Dating of Pleistocene Fauna and Flora from Starunia, SW Ukraine

et al. 2012

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ABSTRACT. New attempts are presented to determine the age of large Pleistocene mammals excavated at Starunia, 130 km southeast of Lviv, Ukraine. This remarkable discovery made at the beginning of the 20th century included a complete carcass of woolly rhinoceros (No. 2), fragments of 3 woolly rhinoceroses (Nos. 1, 3, and 4) and remnants of numerous specimens of other fossil fauna and flora. Although attempts to date paleontological findings from Starunia site go back to the early 1970s, the results obtained before 2006 are somewhat misleading, mostly due to unresolved contamination problems. Comprehensive cleaning of the samples adopted in the framework of this study was aimed at removal of 2 potential sources of contamination: (i) radiocarbon-free hydrocarbons abundant at the burial site; and (ii) allochthonous organic materials containing contemporary carbon that were used in the past during preservation of the dated specimens. Two types of samples have been analyzed for their 14 C content in the framework of the present study: (i) fragments of bones and teeth collected from specimens stored or exposed in the Natural History museums in Lviv and Kraków; and (ii) samples of terrestrial macrofossils retrieved from sediment cores obtained during the 2007-2008 field campaigns in the Starunia area. 14 C analyses of collagen were supplemented by measurements of its elemental C/N ratio and 13 C/ 12 C and 15 N/ 14 N isotope ratios. Three 14 C dates obtained for rhinoceros No. 2 span the age range from 35.3 to 40.0 ka BP, in agreement with the minimum age estimated from macrofossils. The mean value of 37.7 ± 1.7 ka BP falls in the range of ages reported for big Pleistocene mammals from other locations in Europe. The bones of rhinoceros No. 3, which were found in close vicinity to those of rhinoceros No. 2, reveal a 14 C age of 36.7 ±0.6 ka BP. The  15 N and  13 C values obtained for collagen extracted from bones and teeth belonging to rhinoceroses Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are in a broad agreement with analogous literature data for large Pleistocene mammals found in other sites in Europe, North America, and Siberia.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 51%

Radiocarbon Dating of Pleistocene Fauna and Flora from Starunia, SW Ukraine

et al. 2012

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“…The southern limit for both species goes directly through the region of present-day Bayan Ölgiy aimag [42]. Rhinoceros appear to have disappeared from Eurasia by 12,000 yr BP, while mammoths lived on into the early Holocene in areas of the far north where steppe habitat survived until as late as 8000 yr BP [42,44]. Within the larger Eurasian steppe zone, the survival of megafauna was thwarted by the expansion of mesic vegetation, coniferous forests, and a soil base unable to support the weight of the large animals.…”

Section: Paleoenvironmental Indicators and Their Relationship To Faunmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…With this understanding, we can propose the following guidelines. During the Late Pleistocene, northwestern Mongolia was part of the "Mammoth Steppe" that covered the northern reaches of Eurasia [23,42]. While generally characterized by a dry and cold expanse of xeric vegetation, it was dominated by large grazers-that is, megafauna such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, horses and aurochs, as well as ostrich.…”

Section: Paleoenvironmental Indicators and Their Relationship To Faunmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Rock Art from the Mongolian Altai: The Material and its Cultural Implications

Jacobson-Tepfer

2013

Arts

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Rock-pecked images from the northern Mongolian Altai attest to the presence of human communities within the high valleys of that region during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The material provides evidence that is hitherto largely missing from the archaeological record of that region. This paper reviews the rock art, its find sites and larger physical contexts and uses evidence from paleoenvironmental studies to propose dating and cultural significance. The material is compared with other sites said to have Paleolithic imagery from Mongolia and the adjoining Russian Altai. The body of presented material offers a major resource for the study of early hunter-gatherer communities at the interface of Central and North Asia.

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“…were abundant in Beringia during the late Pleistocene before disappearing in the Holocene, and their extinction remains of wide interest and speculation12345678910111213. The Pleistocene environment they occupied is often referred to as 'mammoth steppe', although the nature and chronology of this habitat has been debated59.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Pleistocene environment they occupied is often referred to as 'mammoth steppe', although the nature and chronology of this habitat has been debated59. Extinction has been attributed to one or a combination1258 of factors including over-hunting by humans15713, ecological displacement during the transition from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the warm and stable Holocene16789, or impact by an extraterrestrial object14 at the time of the Younger Dryas (YD) climatic oscillation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pattern of extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia

MacDonald¹,

Beilman

Kuzmin

et al. 2012

Nat Commun

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Extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia has long been subject to research and speculation. Here we use a new geo-referenced database of radiocarbon-dated evidence to show that mammoths were abundant in the open-habitat of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (∼45–30 ka). During the Last Glacial Maximum (∼25–20 ka), northern populations declined while those in interior Siberia increased. Northern mammoths increased after the glacial maximum, but declined at and after the Younger Dryas (∼12.9–11.5 ka). Remaining continental mammoths, now concentrated in the north, disappeared in the early Holocene with development of extensive peatlands, wet tundra, birch shrubland and coniferous forest. Long sympatry in Siberia suggests that humans may be best seen as a synergistic cofactor in that extirpation. The extinction of island populations occurred at ∼4 ka. Mammoth extinction was not due to a single cause, but followed a long trajectory in concert with changes in climate, habitat and human presence.

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Extinction of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) and woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) in Eurasia: Review of chronological and environmental issues

Cited by 85 publications

References 95 publications

Radiocarbon Dating of Pleistocene Fauna and Flora from Starunia, SW Ukraine

Radiocarbon Dating of Pleistocene Fauna and Flora from Starunia, SW Ukraine

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Rock Art from the Mongolian Altai: The Material and its Cultural Implications

Pattern of extinction of the woolly mammoth in Beringia

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