The Likhvin (=Holsteinian, =Hoxnian) small mammal faunas of Europe (MIS 11) with reference to the easternmost Likhvin small mammal locality Rybnaya Sloboda (Volga basin, Russia)

Abstract

Numerous small mammal localities assigned to the beginning of the Late Middle Pleistocene (Holstein, Likhvin, Hoxne Interglacial) were discovered in Europe during the last years. The stratigraphical position of a number of these faunas and the regional differences are discussed in the paper. The new Likhvin small mammal locality Rybnaya Sloboda (Lower Kama basin, Volga basin, Russia) is the easternmost site of this age in Europe. The rich fauna was discovered in fluvial deposits of the 3rd terrace (III) of the Kama River; sediments that are covered by loess deposits with a series of paleosols. The Rybnaya Sloboda fauna includes 16 species of insectivores, lagomorphs and rodents. Remains of the archaic water vole Arvicola cantianus and the Middle Pleistocene steppe lemming Lagurus transiens dominate the fossils assemblage. The evolutional level of the Arvicolinae remains permits the assignment to the Gun'kovian small mammal assemblage and a correlation with the Likhvin Interglacial (MIS 11) (∼424–374 ka BP). The ecological features of the small mammal assemblage indicate a forest-steppe landscape in the lower Kama basin during MIS 11. The comparison with, and the analysis of numerous European Likhvin (= Holsteinian, = Hoxnian) small mammal faunas indicate a geographical biozonation that shows similarities with the biozonation reconstructed for the Eemian (= Mikulino, MIS 5e) Interglacial.