Faunas of Small Mammals of the First Half of the Middle Pleistocene in Europe

Abstract

The main evolutionary stages of formation of the faunas of small mammals of the Middle Pleistocene in Europe, belonging to the interval ~0.76−0.42 mln years, are described. Based on the analysis of the species composition of the faunas of this interval, six main phases of development of small mammals, corresponding to the main climatic events (interglacials, glaciations) during MIS 18 – MIS 12 are identified. Availability of data for some intervals of the first half of the Middle Pleistocene is not too large. Especially this applies to the cold stages of the first half of the Middle Pleistocene – the Don and Oka (or, that is the same, the Elster and Anglian) glaciations. In several cases the difference in time of the appearance of a number of taxa in Eastern and Western Europe was revealed. So, Arvicola cantianus appeared in Western Europe earlier than in Eastern Europe. This phenomenon can be explained by different rates of evolution in different parts of Europe, and, possibly, insufficient number of related data (geological, geochronological, and paleontological), which subsequently allow to determine the age of a number of localities. The analysis of correlation of the East European and West European faunas of small mammals was carried out. The biostratigraphic scheme and the map of localities of small mammals of the Middle Pleistocene during MIS 18 – MIS 12, i.e. in the first half of the Middle Pleistocene on the international scale (early Neopleistocene according to the scale RISK), were built. The obtained data allows to substantiate more accurately and to clarify the geological age of the deposits, and to reconstruct the palaeogeographical setting of the considered periods. They are also an important component in the establishment of biostratigraphic schemes of the Middle Pleistocene and the Pleistocene in general.