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Small Mammals (Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Carnivora) of the Southern Trans-Urals in the Atlantic Period of the Holocene

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Abstract

Studies of 5800 samples of bone and tooth fossils of rodents, lagomorphs, and carnivores collected from loose deposits of Chernyshevskaya-III Cave (52°38′ N, 58°53′ E; Kizil district, Chelyabinsk oblast, Russia) have allowed for the composition and structure of small mammal communities that inhabited the Southern Trans-Urals in the final stage of the Atlantic period (5210 ± 90 years BP, Ki-15500) of the Holocene to be described. The communities included 30 taxa belonging to three orders: Carnivora, Lagomorpha, and Rodentia, with six, two, and 22 species, respectively. The narrow-skulled vole (49%) dominated in the species structure of herbivorous small mammal communities. Codominants were the steppe lemming and the common vole (about 11% each). Steppe (19%) and meadow (18%) groups of species were widespread at that time. Forest and riverside species were also present (about 4% in each group). The existence of the zonal steppe type of small mammal communities with significant participation of mesophilic (mainly meadow) elements is reconstructed for the Southern Trans-Urals for that time. The data obtained reveal humid conditions in the study area during the final stage of the Atlantic phase of the Holocene period.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors express their deep gratitude to the staff of the Laboratory of Paleoecology of the Institute of Ecology and Geology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences: Corresponding Member of the RAS N.G. Smirnov for his help in organizing and conducting research on this topic; P.A. Kosintsev, who provided active assistance in obtaining the radiocarbon date; and O.P. Bachura and E.G. Lapteva for assistance in field research in Chernyshevskaya-III cave.

Funding

This work was carried out within the framework of a State Contract with the Institute for Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, and was supported by the Complex Program of the Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences (project no. 18-4-4-3) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project no. 19-04-00507).

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  1. Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 620144, Yekaterinburg, Russia

    E. A. Kuzmina & A. I. Ulitko

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  1. E. A. Kuzmina
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  2. A. I. Ulitko
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Correspondence to E. A. Kuzmina or A. I. Ulitko.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. This article does not contain any studies involving animals or human participants performed by any of the authors.

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Kuzmina, E.A., Ulitko, A.I. Small Mammals (Rodentia, Lagomorpha, Carnivora) of the Southern Trans-Urals in the Atlantic Period of the Holocene. Biol Bull Russ Acad Sci 48, 1146–1150 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1062359021070189

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