The First Finding of a Frozen Holocene Bison (Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827) Carcass in Chukotka

摘要

Findings of Pleistocene mammals from permafrost of the northern parts of Asia and North America are important sources of data on the biology of these species and their natural environment. To date, comprehensive studies on the remains of mammoths, woolly rhinoceros, horses, and primeval bison have been carried out [1—4]. However, similar findings of large mammals of the Holocene Age have been almost unknown until recently. A partial carcass of a primeval bison (Bison priscus Boj.) of the Holocene Age was found in 2012 in Bilibino region of Chukchi Autonomous Region, at the mouth of the Rauchua River (69° N, 166° E; Fig. 1). The study of this finding yielded data on the biology and natural environment of primeval bison on Chukotka in subglacial time.