Environmental changes in the Middle Urals during Briansk interstadial: Makhnevskaya-2 cave (MIS 3, Russia)

摘要

The results of the comprehensive study of zoogenic deposits in the Makhnevskaya-2 Cave (the north of the Middle Urals) made it possible to reconstruct gradual changes in the flora and fauna of the local territory during the Middle Valdai (Briansk) interstadial (MIS 3). The formation of deposits passed through three stages, which differ in proportions of tundra, steppe, and forest vegetation components as well as in proportions of multiple taxa Dicrostonyx torquatus, Microtus gregalis, Lemmini gen. The dental morphological characteristics of two species of rodents (Dicrostonyx torquatus, Microtus gregalis) helped identify biostratigraphic markers of the studied period of the Late Pleistocene.