The steppe bison ( Bison priscus ) is one of the most widespread and numerous representatives of the mammoth fauna. However, the features of the extinction of steppe bison at the end of the Pleistocene and their replacement by modern forms of the American bison ( Bison bison ) and European bison ( Bison bonasus ) have not yet been fully studied. Thus, complete skulls of fossil steppe bison are of great interest for studies on taxonomy and kinship relations in the genus Bison . This article presents the results of a study of the finely preserved skull of a fossil bison found in the Verkhoyansk district (Yakutia). This skull was compared by its morphological and osteometric features with other bison skulls, which were found at different times and locations in Upper Pleistocene deposits, as well as with the skulls of modern American bison Bison bison from the collection of the Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Standard morphometric indicators of bison skulls and horns were obtained using the Skinner and Kaisen measurement methods. Analysis showed that skulls of Bison priscus from Late Pleistocene sediments of Yakutia, according to most parameters, correspond to the maximum size of modern American bison Bison bison or even larger than the latter. The horns of bison from the Late Pleistocene are 1.5–2 times larger in size than the horns of modern bison and are comparable to those of the Middle Pleistocene long-horned bison B. p. crassicornis Richardson (= longicornis ). The disproportion in the size of the skull and horns of the Late Pleistocene bison is due to their habitat in the open landscapes of the Arctic steppe. The morphological uniqueness of the steppe bison of the Late Pleistocene in Yakutia has prospects for further research, because it deserves to be identified as an independent taxon (subspecies), which is relevant for regional paleontology and stratigraphy.

The steppe bison (Bison priscus) is one of the most widespread and numerous representatives of the mammoth fauna. However, the features of the extinction of steppe bison at the end of the Pleistocene and their replacement by modern forms of the American bison (Bison bison) and European bison (Bison bonasus) have not yet been fully studied. Thus, complete skulls of fossil steppe bison are of great interest for studies on taxonomy and kinship relations in the genus Bison. This article presents the results of a study of the finely preserved skull of a fossil bison found in the Verkhoyansk district (Yakutia). This skull was compared by its morphological and osteometric features with other bison skulls, which were found at different times and locations in Upper Pleistocene deposits, as well as with the skulls of modern American bison Bison bison from the collection of the Zoological Museum of the Lomonosov Moscow State University. Standard morphometric indicators of bison skulls and horns were obtained using the Skinner and Kaisen measurement methods. Analysis showed that skulls of Bison priscus from Late Pleistocene sediments of Yakutia, according to most parameters, correspond to the maximum size of modern American bison Bison bison or even larger than the latter. The horns of bison from the Late Pleistocene are 1.5–2 times larger in size than the horns of modern bison and are comparable to those of the Middle Pleistocene long-horned bison B. p. crassicornis Richardson (=longicornis). The disproportion in the size of the skull and horns of the Late Pleistocene bison is due to their habitat in the open landscapes of the Arctic steppe. The morphological uniqueness of the steppe bison of the Late Pleistocene in Yakutia has prospects for further research, because it deserves to be identified as an independent taxon (subspecies), which is relevant for regional paleontology and stratigraphy.

Thearticlepresentsacomparativestudyofmorphometricparametersoffossilandmoderngreywolves(Canis lupus

The paper reviews history of studies and research areas on a frozen mummy of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) found in 2010 in Oyogoss Yar, about 30 km west of the Kondratyeva River mouth, northern Yakutia. Introduced to the scientific literature as the Yuka Mammoth, it became the first, partly preserved carcass of female woolly mammoth of adolescent age found in the world, which lived about 39 000 calendar years BP, during relatively warm period (MIS 3, Molotkovskian, or Leningrad Interstadials).The multidisciplinary study of Yuka by various approaches (anatomical-morphological, palynological, paleobotanical, microbiological, computer tomography, and radiocarbon dating methods) yielded fundamentally new data on this proboscidean species. The paper evaluates systematic studies of this unique specimen, from identification of its age and studies of skeletal morphology, ontogenetic development and environmental conditions to reporting the presence of viable bacteria in Yuka’s soft tissues. This paper also features the discovery of the preserved brain and analysis of its structure, as well as a revelation of unique morphology of the trunk, for the first time for this species. The paleobotanical data indicated predomination of open herbaceous landscapes during Yuka’s life. New features of the species morphology were revealed: delayed eruption of the permanent tusks (I) and different number of nail plates and phalanges on the forelegs. The presence of viable bacteria strains of Bacillus genus was recorded in Yuka’s tissues.

A partial carcass of the woolly mammoth, Mammuthus primigenius, named “Yuka Mammoth,” was found thawed from the Pleistocene Yedoma (permafrost) deposits of the Oyogos Yar bluff on the coast of the Dmitry Laptev Strait. Yuka’s AMS calibrated radiocarbon date yielded the date between ~40 100–39 000 calendar years BP. The mDNA analyses demonstrated that Yuka clusters with previously published Siberian woolly mammoths falling into clade 1 and represents ancestral to a haplotype shared by two ~18 500 14C yr old mammoths, including the Yukagir Mammoth that was discovered ~140 km from the Yuka’s site. The hide morphology in the genital area suggests that Yuka was a female. The teeth generation (DP3/dp3-Dp4/dp4) and their state of wear, season of her death (autumn) and confirmed earlier the dental development delay in infants allowed to estimate Yuka’s age as 5.5 yr old juvenile. Yuka’s tusks suggests that yuka was not older than 5.5 years woolly mammoth specimens with the similar dental age. Yuka’s missing body parts and the damage of the hide suggests that it was hunted by cave lions, but she managed to escape into a mudhole, where she died and was partially scavenged.

Аннотация. Проведено полное фаунистическое описание ископаемых животных на местонахождении верхнего течения речки Енге-Юрюе Среднеколымского района Якутии

The paper presents the first morphological description of the internal organs of a frozen corpse of the steppe bison Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827) from the Holocene of northern Yakutia. Necropsy revealed that most of the internal organs, including the brain, heart with the main vessels, and reproductive system were well preserved. It demonstrated that the anatomy of this bison was close to that of the genera Bos and Bison. Trauma or pathological changes in the organs were not detected. The cause of death of the bison remains unknown.

The paper presents analyses of the exterior morphology of one of the extinct and dominating species of the Late Pleistocene megafauna of Eurasia, the steppe bison, Bison priscus. The frozen mummy of the Yukagir Bison found in northern Yakutia, Russia represents the most complete specimen of this species in the world. It belongs to a young, 4.1-4.5 year old male, which dates back about 10,500 cal BP. The analyses revealed that the overall size of this specimen was comparable to a 6-year old European and American bison. Its horn spread falls within the upper limits of B. bison athabascae and B. bison bison males, as well as within the average sizes of B. priscus occidentalis from East Siberia and North America. While most of the not fully-grown Yukagir Bison body size fell within the average parameters of both grown modern species, the body and hind foot lengths were closer to the lower limits of the European bison. The color and hair pattern appeared to be close to the Blue Babe mummy (B. priscus) and modern Wood bison (modern morphotype of B. bison athabascae) and European (B. bonasus) bison. The geological age of the Yukagir Bison, along with the data from other specimens indicate that this species, which survived the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary, became rare but was still widely distributed in the northern part of centraleastern Siberia until about 8000 years ago. The juxtaposed data from arctic latitude sediments and the Bison priscus stomach content pollen indicate that it was selective grazer in the environment dominated by unfavorable shrub and forest-tundra vegetation. The scarce Holocene steppe bison remains in Eastern Siberia reflects the dramatic decrease of suitable habitats and pastures during the early Holocene climatic optimum in the high Arctic, which was a major factor of irreversible population fragmentation and decline leading to the species' extinction. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.

In this paper, we present a morphometric research of the fossil material from four sites in the Yana-Indigirka lowland, Yakutia. The preliminary results showed that the Selliakh and Mus-Khaya sites contained mass assemblages of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius Blumenbach, 1799) of different individual ages, resembling a herd of modern African elephants – Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, 1797. The Buor-Uriakh and Chondon sites yielded bones of two woolly mammoth individuals, whose morphological characteristics and individual ages were determined.

Летом 2012 г. на р. Буор-Юрях, протекающей по Яно-Индигирской низменности, отряд отдела изучения мамонтовой фауны АН РС (Я) провела исследование местонахождения костных остатков шерстистого мамонта. Поиск и сбор костных остатков в основном осуществлялся по берегу на протяжении около 500 м вниз и 500 м вверх по течению. Некоторая часть костей была обнаружена под водой. Данная статья посвящена описанию и сравнению костных остатков шерстистого мамонта, найденного на берегу одноименной реки. На местонахождении было обнаружено около 15 % от полного скелета шерстистого мамонта. Результаты анатомоморфологических и сравнительных исследований показали, что костные остатки принадлежали одной особи мамонта с индивидуальным возрастом более 50 лет высотой скелета в холке около 318 см.

The article provides description of the new very rare finds of the Mammoth fauna fossil mammals frozen corpses, such as: woolly mammoth, ancient horse and primeval bison found in 2010-2011 on the north of the Yana-Indigirka lowland in Yakutia.