The study of fossilised remains of herbivorous animals, particularly those rare findings with well-preserved gastrointestinal tracts filled with plant remains, is crucial to our understanding of the environment in which they lived. Summarising thirty years of research, Ukraintseva presents evidence on plants once eaten by Siberia's major herbivorous mammals. The collection of pollen and plant spores from food remains sheds light on the vegetation of these ancient habitats, enabling researchers to reconstruct local floras of the time. This also promotes further insight into the causes of the extinction of various species due to changing environmental conditions and food availability. Providing a history of the research undertaken, the book also includes specific chapters on the Cherski horse and bison, along with the vegetation and climate of Siberia in the late Anthropogene period, making it a lasting reference tool for graduate students and researchers in the field.
• Summarises thirty years of Siberian research, providing a full history of the research undertaken and enabling a better understanding of the extinction of species due to changing environmental conditions and food availability • Features twenty full-page plates with microphotographs of pollen and plant spores collected from the food remains of fossil mammals • Presents new and detailed information on the vegetation of ancient habitats, enabling researchers to reconstruct local floras and climates of the time
Contents
Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Some pages of history; 2. Material and methods; 3. The mammoth faunal complex; 4. Solving the mysteries of the Siberian mammoth and its companions; 5. Food remains of fossil herbivorous mammals as indicators of Late Quaternary floras in the North of Siberia; 6. Vegetation and climate of Siberia in the Late Quaternary; 7. Why did the mammoths die out so quickly?; 8. Summary; Glossary; References; Index.
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