The Eurasian mammoth distribution during the second half of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene

The PALEOFAUNA database developed by the authors contains information on more than 5500 Eurasian localities that yielded the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene mammalian fossils. The database is used to analyze the changes in the geographical distribution during the second half of the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene of the significant Pleistocene species - the mammoth Mammuthus primigenius. Based on the geographical information, combined with the last radiocarbon data, a correlation has been established between the observed shifts in mammoth range and the climatic changes that occurred during the past 50.000 years. During the Late Pleistocene M. primigenius inhabited a vast area in Eurasia (Fig. 1). Mammoth range changed their distribution repeatedly during the Middle and Late Valdai (Weichselian); the expansion of the range increased during stadial intervals and decreased during most of the interstadials. The mammoth was adapted to: a) a dry and cold climate controlled primarily by an anticyclonic circulation pattern, to b) a highly productive steppe environment, and to c) a thin snow cover during winter. The maximum expansion of mammoth range in Eurasia related to the Denekamp (=Bryansk) Interstadial. Later the range of mammoth reduced; this process was started before the end of the LGM in Europe (Fig. 2). The Pleistocene/Holocene transition marked by an increase in humidity, an increase of cloudiness and a related decrease of incoming solar radiation. The "mammoth steppe" began to degrade, along with the loss of productivity in open landscapes and reforestation. The newly formed climatic and environmental conditions resulted in the extinction of M. primigenius. Progressive warming from the end of the Pleistocene onwards resulted in dramatic changes in the environment that appeared to be critical for the distribution of this animal. Mammoth range disintegrated into isolated spots, and later it disappeared completely from Eurasia. Relict populations of small-sized mammoths persisted longer on isolated islands such as the New Siberian Islands, the St. Paul Island and the Wrangel Island. Late Paleolithic and Mesolithic hunters might also have additional affected the size of the mammoth population. Their impact was probably particularly higher when the species were close to extinction.