Alexei Tikhonov

The Yana River basin in the Yana-Indigirka Lowland is one of the richest regions of Yakutia in paleontological finds of animals representing the mammoth fauna with soft tissues. More than 130 years ago, a large collection of paleontological material was collected by the royal expedition led by A.A. Bunge and E.V. Toll (1885-1886), which is stored in the storerooms of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. Previously known unique finds on the middle reaches of the Yana River included the Lena horse body fragment (2009), juvenile bison (2009), collared lemming (2012), and Verkhoyansk foal (2018) discovered at the Batagaika location. In 2023, during field work, paleontological and palynological material was collected at the main locations of the Yana River basin. New data on the quantitative and percentage ratio of mammoth fauna species at the Khaastaakh locality are presented, as well as some morphometric indicators for a fragmented fossil bison body. For a comprehensive study of the localities, various methods of paleogeographic reconstructions were used, including paleontological, palynological and radiocarbon analyses. These methods were aimed at identifying temporal patterns of variability of natural conditions at the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary. The results of the latest findings supplement the information on the distribution of representatives of the mammoth fauna in the territory of Yakutia in the late Pleistocene and Holocene.

Mammoth ivory is in demand in the jewelry industry, folk crafts and in the manufacture of cosmetics. This unique natural resource is an alternative to the prohibited extraction of ivory. It is fundamentally important for consumers to identify the raw material unambiguously as mammoth ivory and to accurately determine the grade of the material.The article presents the results of a study, which resulted in the development of a reference materials set of open porosity of the mammoth ivory. The reference materials are cylinders with an outer diameter of 30 mm and a height of 30 mm. Certified values of open porosity were determined by gas pycnometry. Reference materials are intended for certification of measurement methods and control of the accuracy of measurement results of open porosity of mammoth ivory in laboratory conditions. Reference materials can be used for various types of metrological control if the metrological characteristics of reference materials correspond to the established requirements.The research materials are of an applied nature for a number of economic sectors where mammoth ivory is used as a raw material. Reference materials of mammoth ivory are in demand in materials science, biology, geology, and other natural sciences, and in expert activities to determine the authenticity of products made from mammoth ivory. The article may also be of interest to students and teachers of natural sciences in higher education, as well as anyone interested in artifacts of ancient fauna.

The brown bear (Ursus arctos L., 1758) is a widespread bear species inhabiting the forest zone of Eurasia, including the Republic of Yakutia. The association with forest habitats explains why the Pleistocene findings of U. arctos fossils are rare in the northern part of Eastern Siberia, where open steppe-tundra and steppefied landscapes prevailed during the Pleistocene. Fossils of U. arctos that have been found on the territory of Yakutia are dated since the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene. These are mainly the skulls and bones of the postcranial skeleton. In the present study, using comparative morphological analysis, computed tomography, and DNA sequencing, we describe a first mummified carcass of a brown bear individual that inhabited the New Siberian Islands (Northeast Siberia) in the Middle Holocene, approximately 3,500 years BP, which was found in the permafrost of Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island, Russia, in 2020.

Paleoclimatic changes during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition is suggested as a main factor that led to species extinction, including the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Steller’s sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) and the Don-hare (Lepus tanaiticus). These species inhabited the territory of Eurasia during the Holocene, but eventually went extinct. The Don-hare is an extinct species of the genus Lepus (Leporidae, Lagomorpha), which lived in the Late Pleistocene–Early Holocene in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. For a long time, the Don-hare was considered a separate species, but at the same time, its species status was disputed, taking into account both morphological data and mitochondrial DNA. In this study, mitochondrial genomes of five Don-hares, whose remains were found on the territory of Northeastern Eurasia were reconstructed. Firstly, we confirm the phylogenetic proximity of the “young” specimens of Don-hare and mountain or white hare, and secondly, that samples older than 39 Kya form a completely distinct mitochondrial clade.

Significant palaeoecological and paleoclimatic changes that took place during Late Pleistocene—Early Holocene transition are considered important factors that led to megafauna extinctions. Unlike many other species, the brown bear (Ursus arctos) has survived this geological time. Despite the fact that several mitochondrial DNA clades of brown bears became extinct at the end of the Pleistocene, this species is still widely distributed in Northeast Eurasia. Here, using the ancient DNA analysis of a brown bear individual that inhabited Northeast Asia in the Middle Holocene (3460 ± 40 years BP) and comparative phylogenetic analysis, we show a significant mitochondrial DNA similarity of the studied specimen with modern brown bears inhabiting Yakutia and Chukotka. In this study, we clearly demonstrate the maternal philopatry of the Northeastern Eurasian U. arctos population during the several thousand years of the Holocene.

During the last decade, paleoproteomics allowed us to open a direct window into the biological past, improving our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships of extant and extinct species, past human diseases, and reconstruction of the human diet. In particular, meta-proteomic studies, mainly carried out on ancient human dental calculus, provided insights into past oral microbial communities and ancient diets. On the contrary, very few investigations regard the analysis of ancient gut microbiota, which may enable a greater understanding of how microorganisms and their hosts have co-evolved and spread under the influence of changing diet practices and habitat. In this respect, this paper reports the results of the first-ever meta-proteomic analysis carried out on a gut tissue sample some 40,000 years old. Proteins were extracted by applying EVA (ethylene–vinyl acetate) films to the surface of the gut sample of a woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenus), discovered in 1972 close to the Shandrin River (Yakutia, Russia), and then investigated via a shotgun MS-based approach. Proteomic and peptidomic analysis allowed in-depth exploration of its meta-proteome composition. The results were validated through the level of deamidation and other diagenetic chemical modifications of the sample peptides, which were used to discriminate the “original” endogenous peptides from contaminant ones. Overall, the results of the meta-proteomic analysis here reported agreeing with the previous paleobotanical studies and with the reconstructed habitat of the Shandrin mammoth and provided insight into its diet. The data have been deposited to the ProteomeXchange with identifier < PXD025518 > .

A preliminary description is presented of the well-preserved frozen mummies of two cubs of the extinct cave lion Panthera spelaea (finds of 2017–2018, Semyuelyakh River, Yakutia, eastern Siberia, Russia). The fossil lion cubs were found in close proximity, but they do not belong to the same litter, since their radiocarbon ages differ: the female (named ‘Sparta’) was dated to 27,962 ± 109 uncal years BP, and the male (named ‘Boris’) was dated to 43,448 ± 389 uncal years BP. The lion cubs have similar individual ages, 1–2 months. The general tone of the colour of the fur coat of Sparta is greyish to light brown, whereas, in Boris, the fur is generally lighter, greyish yellowish. It is, therefore, possible that light colouration prevailed with age in cave lions and was adaptive for northern snow-covered landscapes. The article discusses the results of computed tomography of cubs of the cave lion, the possible reasons for their death, and the peculiarities of their existence in the Siberian Arctic.