AN APPROACH TO THE UNIFICATION OF INTER-BIOME AND INTERREGIONAL CORRELATIONS OF MICROMAMMAL FAUNAL COMPLEXES ACROSS LATITUDINAL ZONES IN NORTHERN EURASIA, QUATERNARY ARYICOLINE FAUNAS TAKEN AS AN EXAMPLE

摘要

Chronological correlation of faunal complexes is an important stage in the study of the fossil record of the Quaternary (last 2.6 million years), allowing for a wide range of problems at the intersection of biology and geology to be solved. Arvicoline rodents (Arvicolinae, Cricetidae, Rodentia) have traditionally been the object of biostratigraphic and biochronological studies in the Northern. Hemisphere. The time of the first and last occurrence of key taxa in fossil assemblages may serve as biochronological markers. However, continent wide correlations of evolutionary levels of regional faunas are hampered by the differences in the species compositions of different biomes and natural zones. The paper proposes an approach to unifying the inter-biome and inter-zonal correlations of the Quaternary mammal faunas, based on the intersections of the distribution ranges of arvicoline species in various natural zones. Identification of synchronous evolutionary stages of the phyletic lineages of arvicolines common to the neighboring zones allows us to compare the faunas of the regions with a pronounced latitudinal gradient of environmental conditions. The strengths and weaknesses of the practical application of this approach for studying the history of the fauna are exemplified for the trans - Urals and western Siberia within the time interval from 1.8 to 0.77 million years ago.