Survival of indicator species of the mammoth fauna large mammals in the Holocene of Yakutia (East Siberia, Russia)

Abstract

Global climate change at the end of the Pleistocene led to extinction across the huge territories of the Northern Hemisphere of indicator species of large mammals of the mammoth fauna. Undoubtedly, in some more densely populated regions, the mammoth fauna underwent pressure from Upper Paleolithic humans hunting activity. Previously it was thought that the megafauna of the “Mammoth complex” had become extinct in the territory of Yakutia by the beginning of the Holocene. However, the latest data indicate that extinction of the mammoth fauna was significantly delayed in the north of Eastern Siberia. Radiocarbon data show that wild horses inhabited the north of Yakutia during 5300–2200 cal yr BP. Musk oxen lived here about 3400 – 2600 cal yr BP. Some bison remains from Yakutia belong to the early Holocene. The following circumstances could have facilitated the survival of representatives of the mammoth fauna in Yakutia. The cool, dry climate in this region is favorable to steppe associations, the habitats of these mammals. The small number of Stone Age hunting tribes in the northern part of Yakutia was probably another factor that contributed to the survival of some mammoth fauna representatives.