Available online 11 December 2015
Abstract
Mammoth
feces from northern Yakutia and western Chukotka were investigated in a
multidisciplinary study. Radiocarbon dating of the Yakutian mammoth
dung yielded ca 42 ka BP and the age of the feces from Chukotka is older
than 45 ka BP. The two sites are located about 15,000 km from each
other and have a different geological setting. Most plant remains in the
dung of both mammoths were grasses and sedges, with some other herbs
and dwarf shrubs in addition. The pastures were situated in varying
treeless shrubby landscapes: herb–grass associations of meadows,
wormwood and shrub biotopes on slopes, in valleys and at watersheds.
Besides plant remains and hairs of large herbivore mammals, the feces
also contained feathers of Anseriformes, fragments of beetles and flies,
ephippia of Cladocera, diatoms, remains of testate amoebae and
ascospores of coprophilous fungi from pasture cenoses.
Keywords
- Diet;
- Environment;
- Pastures;
- Ice Age biota;
- N-E Russia;
- Dating