Description of bone residues of woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis Blum., 1799, from the new location of mammoth fauna on the R. Ogorokha (basin of the Indigirka river, Abyiskii district, Yakutia)

This paper presents the results of the investigation of previously unstudied bone remains of woolly rhinos of different individual ages from the new location on the river Ogorokha (basin of river Indigirka, Abyiskii district, Yakutia). The basin of the Indigirka is known for findings of mammoth fauna across its length. Some of the unique findings, as well as numerous basic locations, were found and studied in that area, such as Mylakhchinskii bison and Abyiskii mammoth, Berelekh mammoth “graveyard”. During the last years, some well-preserved mummies of cave lion cubs, fragments of woolly rhino cubs were found. The possibility of new paleontological findings in this area remains high.

Field work was carried out for three years since 2014. During the work, the remains of almost all representatives of the so-called mammoth fauna were collected. Systematization was done by allocating each finding according to bone types and field numbering. Comparative determination of the bone remains of woolly rhinos involved the morphometric data from other previously studied locations. Individual age, sex and possible cause of death of these animals were determined. It is of interest to study the remains of the embryonic period of development of woolly rhino cubs, which are quite rare to find. The high concentration of bones and cadaveric remains on a relatively small area gives us the reason to suppose that, in the late Pleistocene, this area contained some form of natural trap. The new location of mammoth fauna on the Ogorokha river is of substantial scientific interest and certainly requires more detailed and comprehensive studies.

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