A. V. Shpansky

Tomsk State University · Department of Palaeontology and Historical Geology

The present phylogeographic pattern of red deer in Eurasia is not only a result of the contraction of their distribution range into glacial refugia and postglacial expansion, but probably also an effect of replacement of some red deer s.l. mtDNA lineages by others during the last 50 000 years. To better recognize this process, we analysed 501 seque...

The wooly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and forest rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis), were prominent representatives of the Middle and Late Pleistocene glacial and interglacial faunas of Eurasia. Their diet has traditionally been inferred on functional morphology of the dentition and skull. In rare cases, food remains are preserved...

New findings of Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Jäger, 1839) remains, obtained from the Asian part of Russia, are described. The material includes 39 specimens from 13 localities in West Siberia and East Siberia. It considerably expands the geographic distribution of this species of rhinoceros. A series of 11 mandibles from Siberia, including one ju...

We report a new series of radiocarbon ( ¹⁴ C) dates on the MIS 3 megafauna for a previously poorly studied region of southeastern West Siberia. Some species, like woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros, and Pleistocene bison and horse, existed throughout the MIS 3 (ca. 29–59 ka cal BP); cave hyaena is dated to ca. 46,400 cal BP. The very late ¹⁴ C da...

New data on the timing of the maximum distribution and diet of Ovibos moschatus in south Siberia in the Late Pleistocene are presented. The southern border of the range of musk ox in the West Siberian Plain during the Karginian time (Denekamp Interstadial, DEN) was located in the Tomsk Ob River region. During the maximum cooling of the Sartanian ti...

Enamel macro- and microstructure has been studied in the teeth of Merck's rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis Jäger, 1839), woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis Blumenbach, 1799), and rhinoceroses from the Tetyukhinskaya (44°35' N, 135°36' E) and Sukhaya (43°09' N, 131°28' E) caves in southern Primorye. The teeth from the caves were ide...

The steppe brown bear U. a. “priscus” is constant but not a common member of the Late Pleistocene paleocommunities. It is not distinct arctoid species, but a large brown bear ecomorph which lived in open environments. Instead to speleoid bears, which disappeared ca. 26-24 ka BP, arctoid bears, thanks to their ecological plasticity, were present in...

A lower jaw of Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis from the Mus Khaya locality on the Yana River in Yakutia is described. This jaw was previously designated as a paratype of Coelodonta jacuticus, but morphological and morphometric analysis has shown that it actually belongs to a typical S. kirchbergensis. Morphometric parameters of the holotype (skull) o...

A paleozoogeographic analysis of the time-space distribution of the rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis Jager) was carried out. The analysis uses data on 98 locations with different geological ages. Over the past 15 years, a large number of new locations have been discovered, especially within Western Siberia, Yakutia and East China. The cart...

During construction of express way S3 in april 2016 in the environs of Gorzów Wielkopolski a very well-preserved skeleton of rhinoceros was found. Preliminary expertise shows it belonged to species Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis. The state of preservation enabled taking samples of metapodial bones suitable for microscopic analyses. Several comparati...

During construction of express way S3 in april 2016 in the environs of Gorzów Wielkopolski a very well-preserved skeleton of rhinoceros was found. Preliminary expertise shows it belonged to species Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis. The state of preservation enabled taking samples of metapodial bones suitable for microscopic analyses. Several comparati...

Ursus arctos is a large carnivore and a common species for Western Siberia. The earliest traces of it date back to the Middle Pleistocene. During the Holocene, its population grew and its range significantly extended northwards. The modern West Siberian habitat lies between 55° and 67°N, and its dynamics are being affected by human activity and cli...

Two skeletons of Bison priscus Bojanus skeletons are described from Pleistocene localities of Grigorievka (Irtysh River, Pavlodar Region) and Krasniy Yar (Ob River, Tomsk Region), south-east of West Siberian Plain. The skulls and postcranial skeletons of these individuals are compared with skulls and large sample of limb bones from the same localit...

Two skeletons of Bison priscus Bojanus skeletons are described from Pleistocene localities of Grigorievka (Irtysh River, Pavlodar Region) and Krasniy Yar (Ob River, Tomsk Region), south-east of West Siberian Plain. The skulls and postcranial skeletons of these individuals are compared with skulls and large sample of limb bones from the same localit...

During the Pleistocene, the saiga antelope, a nomadic, non-territorial, herding species, inhabited vast areas of Eurasia and North America; its distribution was at its maximum extent in the last glaciation. Now, it is restricted to a few isolated populations in Central Asia. Two main forms of saiga were recognised: Saiga borealis and S. tatarica. T...

A new locality of fossil mammals near Kozhamzhar in Pavlodar Priirtysh Region has been described. The article provides the description of the quaternary sediments section found in the outcrop near Kozhamzhar. In the Karginian Age (MIS 3) alluvial deposits of the described locality we found the remains of Elasmotherium sibiricum, Mammuthus ex gr. tr...

The remains of Merck rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis Jager 1839) are rare in Ob area. The finds in Tomsk region originate from both already known location - Krasniy Yar, and two new ones - Asino and Kindal. A finding of a tooth in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory is a first find for the region, and is extremely important in linking...

A new locality of fossil mammals near Kozhamzhar in Pavlodar Priirtysh Region has been described. The article provides the description of the quaternary sediments section found in the outcrop near Kozhamzhar. In the Karginian Age (MIS 3) alluvial deposits of the described locality we found the remains of Elasmotherium sibiricum, Mammuthus ex gr. tr...

This paper describes a unique case of fusion in several bones of Mammuthus trogontherii chosaricus pes from the southeast West Siberian Plain. The fusion affected the distal ends of tibia and fibula, calcaneus and astragalus. The fusion was caused by trauma, probably by dislocation with displacement of the calcaneus and astragalus and tearing of so...

A Pleistocene elephant skeleton was found in 1989 in the alluvial beds of the Tobolsk age on the Om River near the village of Ust’-Tarka (Ust’-Tarkskii District, Novosibirsk Region). The forelimbs and some thoracic and caudal vertebrae are not preserved. Judging from the heavy wear of M3/m3, this animal was about 50–60 years of individual age. The...

An almost complete skeleton of the giant deer Megaloceros giganteus giganteus (Blumenbach, 1803) from the Dzhambul locality on the Irtysh River (Pavlodar Region, Kazakhstan) is described. About 80% of bones are intact, including the skull with well-preserved antlers. At present, the skeleton is mounted in the Pavlodar Local History Regional Museum....

Ontogenetic studies based on fossil mammals are rather scarce, including for the “woolly rhinoceros” Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach 1799). In this paper, for the first time, the earliest age stages (from 6 months to 3.5 years) of C. antiquitatis have been studied on the basis of several lower jaw fragments and limb bones from two Late Pleistoc...

Cases of variations in the morphology of isolated upper teeth M3 of Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799) from the south-east of West Siberia and Yakutiya are described. The anomaly of M. primigenius tooth from Yakutiya is expressed in changing of the tooth crown shape and position of dental plates in M3. Development of the anomaly was probably...

Isolated teeth and some other postcranial remains, which have been discovered in Middle Pleistocene levels along the Ob' River at the village of Krasny Yar, in front of the Sargulin Island (Krivosheino District, Tomsk region, southeast of Western Siberia), are attributed to Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Jager, 1839), better known in Russia as "Mer...

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The geological structure and faunal content of one of the principal localities for Quaternary mammal remains in Western Siberia, Krasniy Yar (Tomsk region, Russia) are considered. This locality contains 3 layers of bone remains: lower (Middle Neopleistocene), middle (the end of Late Neopleistocene) and upper (end of Neopleistocene-beginning of Holo...

Several cases of abnormally developed last teeth (M3/M3 from the upper and lower jaws of an adult woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) from the Tomsk Region and several abnormal isolated M2-M3 and M2-M3 of this species from Eurasia and North America are considered. The dental anomaly in M. primigenius from the Tomsk Region consists of the u...

Several cases of abnormally developed last teeth (M3/M 3) from the upper and lower jaws of an adult woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.) from the Tomsk Region and several abnormal isolated M2-M3 and M2-M3 of this species from Eurasia and North America are considered. The dental anomaly in M. primigenius from the Tomsk Region consists of the...

A relatively complete fragmentary lower jaw of a late fetus of Mammuthus was first found in Western Siberia in the Late Pleistocene Krasnyi Yar locality (Tomsk Region, Russia). The extent to which the jaw was developed and morphological features, such as a well-developed compact bone layer in the symphysial region, the structure of the alveoli for...