Adaptation of the Woolly Mammoth Mammuthus primigenius (Blumenbach, 1799) to Habitat Conditions in the Glacial Period
G. G. BOESKOROV1, E. N. MASHCHENKO2, V. V. PLOTNIKOV3, M. V. SHCHELCHKOVA4, A. V. PROTOPOPOV3, N. G. SOLOMONOV4,5
1Institute of Geology of diamond and precious metals, SB RAS, 677980, Yakutsk, Leninа ave., 39
2A. A. Borissyak Paleontological Institute, RAS, 117647, Moscow, Profsoyuznаya str., 123
3Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha, 677007, Yakutsk, Leninа ave., 33
4M. K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 677016, Yakutsk, Belinskogo str., 58
5Institut of biological problems of cryolithozone, SB RAS, 677980, Yakutsk, Leninа ave., 41
Keywords: шерстистый мамонт, Mammuthus primigenius, адаптации, плейстоцен, криоаридный климат, woolly mammoth, adaptations, Pleistocene, cryo-arid climate
Abstract
The analysis of the available data on the various adaptations of the woolly mammoth to cryoarid conditions of the Ice Age is represented. Mammuthus primigenius had a set of specific anatomical-morphological ideoadaptations (thick long three-row wool, small ears, short tail, adipose “hump”, “hood”-like extension on the trunk, wide soles of the feet) and physiological ones (reduced sensitivity to cold, specific kind of lipid metabolism) providing safe existence and wide distribution of this species in the Northern Holarctic for a long time. Current data let to suggest that the woolly mammoth was a highly specialized species of the Mammoth biome.
|
