A New Glance at Old Samples: Remains of Freshwater Invertebrates Associated with Mummified Carcasses of Large Quaternary Mammals

Abstract

© 2020, Pleiades Publishing, Inc. Abstract—: Carcasses of mammals with well-preserved soft tissues from the permafrost of Siberia and northern North America are among the most important sources of our knowledge on Quaternary environments. However, the potential of this information source is far from being exhausted. The objective of this study is to reveal and describe the remains of freshwater invertebrates in the hair and gut contents of large Pleistocene mammals stored for a long time in museum collections. We have studied the gut contents of two mammoths, as well as the hair of two other mammoths, one woolly rhinoceros, four bison, and two horses. Remains of invertebrates were found in the gut contents of both mammoths, as well as in the hair of two mammoths and the woolly rhinoceros, while no remains were detected in the bison and horse hair. Among the remains of microscopic invertebrates, the most common are branchiopod crustaceans, namely the ephippia of Daphnia sp., Simocephalus sp., the head shields and valves of Chydoridae (Cladocera), and the mandibles of tadpole shrimps (Notostraca). Based on our current level of knowledge, we are able to identify only a limited number of Pleistocene branchiopods. Studies on Recent taxa with the aim to develop identification keys to the aforementioned groups are needed, as they could significantly expand the potential of palaeoecological analysis.