Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 39(1) 1996

Issue:

VOL 39(1) 1996

Keywords:

Paleoecology, west Siberian plain, Quaternary, small mammals

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Quaternary small mammal faunas from the west Siberian plain

• Alexander V. BORODIN

Abstract:

During the Pleistocene, zonal complexes of small mammals existed on the west Siberian plain. These included the northern tundra-like faunas, the southern steppe and forest-steppe faunas, and the central “non-analogue” faunas. Paleontological material allows us to state that the modern steppe complex of small mammals is of autochthonous origin and that the formation of the modern tundra and forest complexes was determined by the geological history of the northern territories and by global climatic shifts during the Pleistocene and Holocene. The modern taiga zone is new to the west Siberian plain and might be a result of the degradation of the “non-analogous” Pleistocene faunas.