New data on the distribution and isotopic characteristics of woolly mammoth remains, mammuthus primigenius (proboscidea, elephantidae), in the late pleistocene of the minusinsk depression (south siberia)

Radiocarbon dating of woolly mammoth remains from the Minusinsk Depression allows for the patterns of its distribution in southern Siberia in the Late Pleistocene to be specified. In the south of Siberia, mammoths are shown to have been most abundant in cold periods, the species having reached its maximum abundance in LGM. So far, there is no single mammoth record that would confidently refer to the warm time interval. During the warm intervals of the Late Pleistocene, the environment in southern Siberia could possibly have not favorable for the permanent habitation of the species Mammuthus primigenius. In general, the mammoths from the Minusinsk Depression retain species-specific features of the content of carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (delta C-13 and delta N-15) in bone collagen compared to other large herbivores. They show the highest delta N-15 values with the lowest delta C-13, vs reindeer that, on the contrary, demonstrate the lowest delta N-15 values and a high delta C-13. The isotopic signal of other herbivorous mammal species lies between the values of mammoths and reindeer. A comparison of the obtained data on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes (delta C-13 and delta N-15) of the woolly mammoth remains from the Minusinsk Depression with similar parameters in animals from the north of eastern Siberia reveals significant differences. One of the possible reasons may lie in differences in the diet of animals of the Minusinsk Depression from mammoths of other populations. However, similar trends, i.e. a relatively lower delta N-15 and higher delta C-13 content in the Late Pleistocene, are characteristic of both reindeer and woolly rhinoceroses of the Minusinsk Depression. This suggests that the differences in the carbon and nitrogen isotope composition in the Minusinsk Depression mammoths from those from the northern territories are due not only to the type of food, but also to a slightly different isotopic background of the region, associated with the local environment.