Boeskorov G.G., Tikhonov A.N., Protopopov A.V., Stepanov A.D., Plotnikov V.V., van der Plicht J., Shchelchkova M.V., Baryshnikov G.F. 2018. New records of Holocene polar bear and walrus (Carnivora) in the Russian Arctic // Russian J. Theriol. Vol.17. No.2: 68–77 [in English].
Gennady G. Boeskorov [gboeskorov@mail.ru], Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Prospect Lenina 39, Yakutsk 677980, Russia; Alexey N. Tikhonov [atikh@mail.ru], Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia; Albert V. Protopopov [a.protopopov@mail.ru], Mammoth Fauna study Department, Yakutia Academy of Sciences, Prospect Lenina 39, Yakutsk 677007, Russia; Alexander D. Stepanov [a.d.step@yandex.ru], M.K. Ammosov’s North-Eastern Federal University, Museum of Archaelogy and Ethnography, Kulakovskogo str. 48, Yakutsk 677013, Russia; Valery V. Plotnikov [mammuthus@mail.ru], Mammoth Fauna study Department, Yakutia Academy of Sciences, Prospect Lenina 39, Yakutsk 677007, Russia; Johannes van der Plicht [j.van.der.plicht@rug.nl], Center for Isotope Research, Groningen University, Nijenborgh 6, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands; Marina V. Shchelchkova [mar-shchelchkova@yandex.ru], M.K. Ammosov’s North-Eastern Federal University, Natural Sciences Institute, Kulakovskogo str. 48, Yakutsk 677013, Russia; Gennady F. Baryshnikov [G_Baryshnikov@mail.ru], Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, Saint Petersburg 199034, Russia.
doi: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.17.2.02
ABSTRACT. This article discusses recent finds of Holocene polar bear and walrus from the northern regions of Russia. The ulna of a polar bear was found on Vaygach Island and radiocarbon dated to 1,971±25 BP (OxA-23631). This calibrates to 430–540 AD, taking into account the marine reservoir effect. The size of the bone is similar to that of a recent Ursus maritimus. The locality of the fossil bone is within the modern species range, which developed about two millennia ago. In 2014 a walrus tusk was found on the coast of New Siberia Island and is radiocarbon dated to 5,065±35 BP (GrA-62452). This calibrates to 3,510–3,370 BC, taking into account the marine reservoir effect. Its size and morphology are identical to that of an adult male of the subspecies Odobenus rosmarus laptevi. This subspecies populates the eastern parts of the Kara Sea, the entire Laptev Sea and the western parts of the East Siberian Sea. This new discovery could mean that populations of O. rosmarus laptevi inhabited the waters near the New Siberian Islands during the Middle Holocene, and that the present-day coastline of the Siberian Arctic Islands was already formed at that time.
KEY-WORDS: Ursus maritimus, Odobenus rosmarus, Holocene, Arctic, Russia.