Mammuthus intermedius (Proboscidea, Elephantidae) from the late Middle Pleistocene of the southern Western and Central Siberia, Russia: the problem of intermediate elements in the mammoth lineage

Abstract

A peculiar form of the thick-enamel mammoth from late Middle Pleistocene of the Kuznetsk Basin (South of Western Siberia) and from the Acheulian-Mousterian site Ust'-Izhul'1 with a unique faunal assemblage (North-Minusinsk Basin, Kurtak, Yenisei River, south of Central Siberia) is described. It is compared to Mammuthus intermedius (Jourdan, 1861) from Western Europe. The stratigraphic position and morphometric features of molars, defining the position of this form in the mammoth lineage, character- ize it as an intermediate link in the transition from M. trogontherii to M. primigenius. Mammuthus intermedius inhabited interstadial/interglacial environments of late Middle Pleistocene and had a vast Eurasian range.