The Mammoth fauna as a paleontological characteristic of the Yedoma Ice Complex of Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island (New Siberian Islands, Eastern Arctic Siberia)

This article focuses on paleozoological characteristics of Yedoma Ice Complex deposits. It provides a comprehensive and detailed description of the mammoth fauna collection assembled by the Russian–German expedition for the “Laptev Sea System” project from the famous Western Beringia locality Zimov’e River (southern coast of Bol’shoy Lyakhovsky Island, the New Siberian Islands). Our goal is to present the factual material and the conclusions that can be drawn from it. The overall collection (>1,000 specimens) comprises eleven species, of which Mammuthus primigenius, Bison priscus, Equus ex gr. caballus, Rangifer tarandus, and Ovibos moschatus predominate. There are as many mammoth remains in the collection as horses. The number of ungulates exceeded that of mammoths. One hundred and six radiocarbon dates obtained from bone collagen were analyzed. The fifty-six finite ages from our collection span from 53.3 to 2.2 ka BP. The largest number falls within the interval from 45.5 to 20 ka BP, the most favorable period for mammoth fauna in the region. We propose a methodology for describing specimens based on their preservation. This work is part of an article series dedicated to a comprehensive description of paleozoological material collected from Yedoma Ice Complex deposits of Eastern Arctic Siberia.