A NEW GLANCE AT OLD SAMPLES: REMAINS OF FRESHWATER INVERTEBRATES ASSOCIATED WITH MUMMIFIED CARCASSES OF LARGE QUATERNARY MAMMALS

摘要

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. Yet the potential of this information source is underutilized. The objective of the present investigation is to reveal and describe the remains of freshwater invertebrates in the hair and gut contents of large Pleistocene mammals long stored 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 bisons 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 wooly rhinoceros, while no remains were detected in the bison and horse hair. Among the remains of microscopic invertebrates, the most common ones are branchiopod crustaceans, namely the ephippia of Daphnia sp., Simocephalus sp., the head shields and valves of Chydoridae (Cladocera), and the mandibles of triopsids (Notostraca). Based on the current level of our 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 above groups are needed, as they could significantly expand the capacities of palaeoecological analyses.