A skeleton of the pike Esox cf. lucius L. from the Pleistocene of the Ishim-Irtysh interfluve

Abstract

A complete skeleton of the pike Esox cf. lucius L. from the Late Pleistocene deposits of the IshimIrtysh interfluve (village of Kotochiga, Western Siberia) is described. The specimen is morphologically close to the northern pike, which presently has a circumboreal range. A number of primitive characters in the structure and dentition of the dentary and palatine resemble some Pliocene specimens, although they are rather incomplete, precluding the estimation of the taxonomic value of such characters. The preservation of scales and bones in the pike from Western Siberian suggests immediate burial in the place of its death in a lacustrine basin. The material comes from loam, with traces of a paleocryogenic texture. The underlying sand bed contains abundant shells of freshwater mollusks, suggesting that the climate was comparable to that in the Recent or even softer. The 14C dating giving the age about 25 ka (MIS3) was obtained for the first time in the horizon of buried soil at the base of the sand bed. Previously, the interfluve deposits in question were dated within the range from the Middle Pleistocene (MIS8) to the end of MIS2 of the Late Pleistocene.