Mammoths and the environment
By: Valentina V. Ukraintseva, State Biosphere Reserve "Taymyrskiy", Department of Research Investigations, Russia
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781107027169
Subjects: Paleoclimatology; Mammoths; Paleobotany; Extinction (Biology); SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution
Description: "The study of fossilised remains of herbivorous animals, particularly those rare findings with well-preserved gastrointestinal tracts filled with plant remains, is crucial to our understanding of the environment in which they lived. Summarising 30 years of research, Ukraintseva presents evidence on plants once eaten by Siberia's major herbivorous mammals. The collection of pollen and plant spores from food remains sheds light on the vegetation of these ancient habitats, enabling researchers to reconstruct local floras of the time. This also promotes further insight into the causes of the extinction of various species due to changing environmental conditions and food availability. Providing a history of the research undertaken, the book also includes specific chapters on the Cherski horse and bison, along with the vegetation and climate of Siberia in the late Anthropogene period, making it a lasting reference tool for graduate students and researchers in the field"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Some pages of history; 2. Material and methods; 3. The mammoth faunal complex; 4. Solving the mysteries of the Siberian mammoth and its companions; 5. Food remains of fossil herbivorous mammals as indicators of Late Quaternary floras in the North of Siberia; 6. Vegetation and climate of Siberia in the Late Quaternary; 7. Why did the mammoths die out so quickly?; 8. Summary; Glossary; References; Index.