Boeskorov G.G., Stepanov A.D., Protopopov A.V., Shchelchkova M.V. 2025. Geographical and stratigraphic distribution of fossil saiga antelope (Saiga sp. and Saiga tatarica borealis, Bovidae) finds in the Pleistocene of Yakutia (East Siberia, Russia) // Russian J. Theriol. Vol.24. No.2. P.154–163 [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; Alexander D. Stepanov [a.d.step@yandex.ru], Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academic Lavrentiev Avenue 17, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia; Albert V. Protopopov [aprotopopov@mail.ru], Mammoth Fauna Study Department, Yakutia Academy of Sciences, Prospect Lenina 39, Yakutsk 677007, Russia; Marina V. Shchelchkova [mar-shchelchkova@yandex.ru], M.K. Ammosov’s North-Eastern Federal University, Natural Sciences Institute, Kulakovskogo str. 48, Yakutsk 677013, Russia.
doi: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.24.2.08
ABSTRACT. The article presents an analysis of the spatial and temporal distribution of the currently known finds of fossil saiga antelope (Saiga sp. and Saiga tatarica borealis) in Yakutia (Eastern Siberia, Russia). Saiga remains in the north of Eastern Siberia were first identified by I. Chersky (1876, 1891). Since then, the presence of this species in the Pleistocene of Yakutia has been established over a significant part of its territory. It is assumed that some finds of saiga remains date back to the Early Pleistocene. Nevertheless, the earliest reliable saiga remains in Northeast Asia are dated to the Middle Pleistocene (the Achchygyi Allaikha and Keremesit rivers). An analysis of the finds of saiga remains indicates that this species had a very wide range in the territory of Yakutia during the Late Pleistocene. Saiga inhabited the valleys of Lena, Vilyui, Olenek, Yana, Adycha, Indigirka, and Kolyma rivers (as well as in the interfluves of the latter two rivers). It also lived on Primorsky lowlands and on Bolshoi Lyakhovsky Island. Radiocarbon-dated or related finds indicate a fairly wide distribution of the saiga both during the Karginian interstadial and Sartanian glaciation. By the end of the Pleistocene, with climate changing, expressed in warming and humidization, the depth of snow cover during winter increased in the north of Eastern Siberia, which became an insurmountable factor for saigas. The climate change led to the degradation of the cold steppe zone and its replacement by the tundra and taiga zones. This could led to the regional extinction of saiga antelope in Northeast Asia and Beringia.
KEY WORDS: Saiga sp., Saiga tatarica borealis, Pleistocene, distribution, Yakutia, Eastern Siberia, Russia.