The first Boreal Sable (Martes zibellina, L., 1758) in the Pleistocene Arctic Siberia.

Abstract

This study reports on the first Mustelidae find from the Arctic (NE Yakutia) sealed in intact Pleistocene cryolithic beds. A morphological analysis of semi-adult male sable remains-cranium and dentalia-shows a close affinity with the modern subspecies Martes zibellina jenisseensis. Absence of damage and attrition of the bone surface indicate in-situ burial of the ancient cadaver prior to soft-tissue decomposition. Just minor signs of microbial decay and post-mortem diagenesis changes in the osteological structure of the well-preserved skull and maxilla are consistent with long-term deep freezing. This fossil sable from the Ogorokha site (Central Indigirka, 68°23'N) is 14C-dated to > 45,000 BP, i.e., it is older than ~47,000 calendar years. The modern analogue of this typical woodland animal occupies today open taiga habitats in southern Siberia. The fossil sable shows that climatically moderate circumpolar interstadial ecosystems are conserved in local yedoma deposits. This unique find indicates a former geographic distribution of sable far north into the present sub-arctic and arctic territories, and supports the existence of biotically rich forest refugia during the Last Glacial.