Macrofossil analysis of food reserves in arctic squirrel's burrows of Plestocene age from Kolyma region

摘要

Burial burrows of arctic ground squirrel were found in an exposure of loess glacial deposits located at a distance of 1 km from the Kolyma river valley to the north from Zclenyi Mys settlement, Yakutia. The radiocarbon dating of plant remains has revealed that burrows P917 and P923 were constructed 305(X) +- 700 and 32800 +- 1400 years ago, respectively. According to the macrofossil analysis of food reserves in buried burrows the vegetation of the territory adjacent to them was represented by larch open woodland or grass borders of this forest with sites of different moisture providing. The fruticose layer consisted of willows, but the fruticulose wile was indistinctly pronounced or absent at all. The grass layer was composed of grass plants, forbs, mosses to a lesser extent. In general, vegetation of the investigated territory was similar to the current one.