The first record of “spelaeoid” bears in Arctic Siberia |
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| Authors: | Andrei V Sher Jacobo Weinstock Gennady F Baryshnikov Sergey P Davydov Gennady G Boeskorov Vladimir S Zazhigin Pavel A Nikolskiy |
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| Institution: | 1. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Prospect 33, 119071 Moscow, Russia;2. Ancient DNA and Evolution Group, Centre for Ancient Genetics Niels Bohr Institute & Biological Institute, University of Copenhagen, Juliane Maries vej 30, DK-2100, Denmark;3. Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK;4. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya. 1, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia;5. North-East Science Station, Pacific Institute for Geography, Far-Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 18, Cherskiy, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), 678830, Russia;6. Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospect Lenina 39, 677980 Yakutsk, Russia;7. Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pyzhevsky Pereulok 7, 119017 Moscow, Russia;1. Department of Archaeology and Natural History, School of History, Culture and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, ACT 0200, Australia;2. Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK;3. Department of Anthropology, Durham University, Queen''s Campus, Stockton, University Boulevard, Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees TS17 6BH, UK;4. Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK;1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China;2. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China;3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China;1. Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Invalidenstraße 43, 10115 Berlin, Germany;2. Department of Anthropology, Colorado State University, 1787 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA;3. PACEA, UMR CNRS 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Bâtiment B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 PESSAC CEDEX, France;4. Palaeobiology, Canadian Museum of Nature, PO Box 3443, Stn D, Ottawa K1S 0W3, Canada;5. Department of Palaeobiology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden;6. Centre Français des Études Éthiopiennes, USR 3137, CNRS & Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et du développement international, P.O. Box 5554, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;7. Institut de paléoprimatologie, Paléontologie Humaine : Évolution et Paléoenvironnements, UMR 7262, CNRS & Université de Poitiers, 6 rue Michel Brunet, 86000 Poitiers, France;8. Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland;9. Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, NO-0316 Oslo, Norway;10. Human Evolution Research Center, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA;11. Department of Geological Sciences, Indiana University, 1001 E Tenth Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA;12. Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, WC1H 0PY London, United Kingdom;1. Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Via di Vigna Murata 605, 00143 Roma, Italy;2. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Sapienza, Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy;3. Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria - CNR, Via Salaria km 29.300, 00015 Montelibretti, Roma, Italy |
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| Abstract: | For a long time, “spelaeoid” (cave-bear-like) bears, Ursus (Spelearctos) spp., were believed to be almost purely European animals. Their geographic range has recently been extended to the east, in southern Siberia, Transbaikalia, Kirghizia, Mongolia and Korea. Two unexpected new findings, presented here in detail, significantly change existing views on the distribution of cave bears; both were found in North-Eastern Siberia, far beyond the Arctic Circle, more than 1500 km to the north-east of the previously accepted range.One of the fossils is a mandible, found near the town of Cherskiy at 68.73°N, 161.38°E. The analysis of local geology and accompanying mammal fossils suggests that it comes from the Olyorian Fauna (Early to early Middle Pleistocene). Morphologically, the Cherskiy mandible is closest to Ursus savini, a small middle Pleistocene cave bear from the British Cromer Forest-bed Formation, but differs in having a slightly more advanced dentition, and thus it is described as a new subspecies Ursus savini nordostensis. Another newly recognized fossil of the “spelaeoid” bear is an astragalus found at the Oskhordokh site at 67.54°N, 135.67°E, on a large gravel bar on the right bank of the Adycha River. This specimen is attributed to Ursus cf. deningeri.The paper also presents an interesting example of the interaction between classical and “molecular” palaeontology.The new finds significantly change existing ideas on the ecology and evolution of cave bears, some of the most remarkable members of the extinct Pleistocene megafauna. |
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