Older Dryas
Encyclopedia
The Older Dryas was a stadial
period between the Bølling
and Allerød oscillation
s during the Pleistocene
glacial period
of ~11,700—12,000 uncalibrated years ago. It is named after an indicator genus, the alpine/tundra plant Dryas
, which flourished during that period of time.
It was a variable cold, dry Blytt-Sernander
period, observed in climatological evidence in only some regions, depending on latitude (in regions where it is not observed, the Bølling-Allerød is considered a single interstadial period). Evidence of the Older Dryas is strongest in northern Eurasia, particularly part of North Europe
roughly equivalent to Pollen zone
Ic.
oxygen isotope record, the Older Dryas appears as a downward peak establishing a small, low-intensity gap between the Bølling and the Allerød. This configuration presents a difficulty in estimating its time, as it is more of a point than a segment. But which point, and how long a segment should be assigned? The segment is small enough to escape the resolution of most C-14 series; i.e., the points are not close enough together to find it.
One approach to the problem assigns a point and then picks an arbitrary segment. You might read that the Older Dryas is "centered" near 14,100 BP or is 100 to 150 years in duration "at" 14,250 BP.
A second approach finds C-14 or other dates as close to the end of the Bølling and the beginning of the Allerød as possible and selects end points based on them. This type of date is of the form, for example, 12,000-11,800 C-14 BP uncalibrated, 14,000-13,700 BP cal.
The best approach attempts to include the Older Dryas in a sequence of points as close together as possible (high resolution), or within a known event. For example, pollen from the island of Hokkaidō
in Japan
records a Larix pollen peak and matching sphagnum
decline at 12,400-11,800 uncal., 14,600-13700 BP cal. In the White Sea a cooling occurred at 14,700-13,400/13,000, which resulted in a readvance of the glacier in the initial Allerød. In Canada
, the Shulie Lake phase (a readvance) is dated to 14,000-13,500 BP. On the other hand, varve chronology in southern Sweden
indicates a range of 14,050-13,900 there.
Capturing the Older Dryas through high resolution dating continues to be of concern to researchers in climatology.
and tundra
environments depending on the permafrost
line and the latitude
. In moister regions around lakes and streams were thickets of dwarf birch
, willow
, sea buckthorn, and juniper
. In the river valleys and uplands to the south were open birch
forests.
The first trees, birch and pine
, had spread into north Europe 500 years previously. During the Older Dryas, the glacier advanced again and the trees retreated southward, to be replaced by a mixture of grassland and cool-weather alpine species. This type of biome
has been called “Park Tundra
”, “Arctic tundra”, “Arctic pioneer vegetation” or “birch woodlands.” It exists today in the transition between taiga
and tundra
in Siberia
. Then it stretched from Siberia to Britain
in a more or less unbroken expanse.
To the northwest was the Baltic ice lake
, which was truncated by the edge of the glacier. Species had access to Denmark
and southern Sweden
. Most of Finland
and the Baltic countries
were under the ice or the lake for most of the period. Northern Scandinavia
was glaciated. Between Britain and the mainland were rolling hills prolifically populated with animals. Thousands of specimens, hundreds of tons of bones, have been recovered from the bottom of the North Sea
, termed “doggerland
”, and continue to be recovered.
The brief lists of plants and animals stated below are a fraction of the total number of species found for the period. Most families were more diverse than they are today, and were yet more so in the last interglacial. A great extinction
, especially of mammals, continued throughout the end of the Pleistocene
, and may be continuing today.
Indicator species are the Alpine plants:
Grasslands species are:
Artiodactyls
:
Perissodactyls
:
Proboscidea
:
So much meat on the hoof must have supported large numbers of Carnivora
, such as:
Ursidae:
Hyaenidae:
Felidae
:
Canidae
:
Mustelidae
:
The sea also had its share of carnivores, which due to their maritime location, survived until modern times.
Phocidae:
Odobenidae
:
Of the Cetacea
n Odontoceti, the Monodontidae
:
Delphinidae:
Of the Mysticetian Eschrichtiidae
:
The top of the food chain was supported by larger numbers of smaller animals farther down it, which lived in the herbaceous blanket covering the tundra or steppe and helped maintain it by carrying seeds, manuring and aerating it.
Leporidae
:
Ochotonidae:
Cricetidae
:
Sciuridae:
Dipodidae
:
stage of tool development. Bands of humans survived by hunting the plains mammals. In north Europe
they preferred reindeer; in Ukraine
—the wooly mammoth
. They sheltered in huts and manufactured tools around campfires. Ukrainian shelters were supported by mammoth tusks. Man was already established across Siberia
and in North America.
Man did not hunt alone. Two domestic dogs, Canis familiaris
, have been found in late Pleistocene Ukraine
. They were a heavy breed similar to a Great Dane
, perhaps of use in running down Elephantidae. The large number of mammoth bones at campsites make it clear that even then the Elephantidae in Europe were approaching the limit of their duration. Their bones were used for many purposes, not the least interesting of which are the numerous objects of art, including an engraved star map.
Late upper palaeolithic culture was by no means uniform. A large number of local traditions have been defined. The Hamburgian culture had occupied the lowlands and north Germany before the Older Dryas. During the Older Dryas, contemporaneous with the Havelte Group of the late Hamburgian, the Federmesser culture
appeared and occupied Denmark and south Sweden, following the reindeer. South of the Hamburgian was the Magdalenian
, which at that time was long-standing. In Ukraine was the Molodovan, which used tusks in building shelters.
Stadial
A stadial is a period of lower temperatures during an interglacial separating the glacial periods of an ice age. Such periods are of insufficient duration or intensity to be considered glacial periods...
period between the Bølling
Bølling Oscillation
The Bølling oscillation was a warm interstadial period between the Oldest Dryas and Older Dryas stadials, at the end of the last glacial period. It is named after a peat sequence discovered at Bølling lake, central Jutland...
and Allerød oscillation
Allerød Oscillation
The Allerød period was a warm and moist global interstadial that occurred at the end of the last glacial period. The Allerød oscillation raised temperatures , before they declined again in the succeeding Younger Dryas period, which was followed by the present interglacial period.In some regions,...
s during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
glacial period
Glacial period
A glacial period is an interval of time within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate within an ice age...
of ~11,700—12,000 uncalibrated years ago. It is named after an indicator genus, the alpine/tundra plant Dryas
Dryas (plant)
Dryas is a genus of dwarf perennial herbaceous plants in the rose family Rosaceae, native to the arctic and alpine regions of Europe, Asia and North America. The genus is named after the Greek nymph Dryas. The classification of Dryas within the Rosaceae has been unclear...
, which flourished during that period of time.
It was a variable cold, dry Blytt-Sernander
Blytt-Sernander
The Blytt-Sernander classification, or sequence, is a series of north European climatic periods or phases based on the study of Danish peat bogs by Axel Blytt and Rutger Sernander...
period, observed in climatological evidence in only some regions, depending on latitude (in regions where it is not observed, the Bølling-Allerød is considered a single interstadial period). Evidence of the Older Dryas is strongest in northern Eurasia, particularly part of North Europe
Prehistoric Europe
Prehistoric Europe refers to the prehistorical period of Europe, usually taken to refer to human prehistory since the Lower Paleolithic, but in principle also extending to geological time scale - for which see Geological history of Europe....
roughly equivalent to Pollen zone
Pollen zone
Pollen zones are a system of subdividing the last glacial period and Holocene paleoclimate using the data from pollen cores. The sequence provides a global chronological structure to a wide variety of scientists, such as geologists, climatologisists, geographists and archaeologists, who study the...
Ic.
Dates
In the GreenlandGreenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...
oxygen isotope record, the Older Dryas appears as a downward peak establishing a small, low-intensity gap between the Bølling and the Allerød. This configuration presents a difficulty in estimating its time, as it is more of a point than a segment. But which point, and how long a segment should be assigned? The segment is small enough to escape the resolution of most C-14 series; i.e., the points are not close enough together to find it.
One approach to the problem assigns a point and then picks an arbitrary segment. You might read that the Older Dryas is "centered" near 14,100 BP or is 100 to 150 years in duration "at" 14,250 BP.
A second approach finds C-14 or other dates as close to the end of the Bølling and the beginning of the Allerød as possible and selects end points based on them. This type of date is of the form, for example, 12,000-11,800 C-14 BP uncalibrated, 14,000-13,700 BP cal.
The best approach attempts to include the Older Dryas in a sequence of points as close together as possible (high resolution), or within a known event. For example, pollen from the island of Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
records a Larix pollen peak and matching sphagnum
Sphagnum
Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...
decline at 12,400-11,800 uncal., 14,600-13700 BP cal. In the White Sea a cooling occurred at 14,700-13,400/13,000, which resulted in a readvance of the glacier in the initial Allerød. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the Shulie Lake phase (a readvance) is dated to 14,000-13,500 BP. On the other hand, varve chronology in southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
indicates a range of 14,050-13,900 there.
Capturing the Older Dryas through high resolution dating continues to be of concern to researchers in climatology.
Description
Northern Europe offered an alternation of steppeSteppe
In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...
and tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
environments depending on the permafrost
Permafrost
In geology, permafrost, cryotic soil or permafrost soil is soil at or below the freezing point of water for two or more years. Ice is not always present, as may be in the case of nonporous bedrock, but it frequently occurs and it may be in amounts exceeding the potential hydraulic saturation of...
line and the latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
. In moister regions around lakes and streams were thickets of dwarf birch
Dwarf Birch
Betula nana is a species of birch in the family Betulaceae, found mainly in the tundra of the Arctic region.-Description:...
, willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
, sea buckthorn, and juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
. In the river valleys and uplands to the south were open birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
forests.
The first trees, birch and pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
, had spread into north Europe 500 years previously. During the Older Dryas, the glacier advanced again and the trees retreated southward, to be replaced by a mixture of grassland and cool-weather alpine species. This type of biome
Biome
Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...
has been called “Park Tundra
Park Tundra
Park tundra was a plant community that occurred in northwestern Europe after the last ice age ended. The community was similar to that found today at the boundary between tundra and taiga in Siberia: species included the dwarf birch and the least willow. Park tundra stretched as far south as the...
”, “Arctic tundra”, “Arctic pioneer vegetation” or “birch woodlands.” It exists today in the transition between taiga
Taiga
Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...
and tundra
Tundra
In physical geography, tundra is a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. The term tundra comes through Russian тундра from the Kildin Sami word tūndâr "uplands," "treeless mountain tract." There are three types of tundra: Arctic tundra, alpine...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Then it stretched from Siberia to Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in a more or less unbroken expanse.
To the northwest was the Baltic ice lake
Baltic ice lake
The Baltic ice lake is a name given by geologists to a freshwater lake that gradually formed in the Baltic Sea basin as glaciation retreated from that region at the end of the Pleistocene. The lake, dated to 12,600-10,300 BP, is roughly contemporaneous with the three Pleistocene Blytt-Sernander...
, which was truncated by the edge of the glacier. Species had access to Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and southern Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. Most of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
and the Baltic countries
Baltic countries
The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...
were under the ice or the lake for most of the period. Northern Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
was glaciated. Between Britain and the mainland were rolling hills prolifically populated with animals. Thousands of specimens, hundreds of tons of bones, have been recovered from the bottom of the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
, termed “doggerland
Deluge (prehistoric)
In geomorphology, an outburst flood, which is a type of megaflood, is a high magnitude, low frequency catastrophic flood involving the sudden release of water. During the last deglaciation, numerous glacial lake outburst floods were caused by the collapse of either ice sheets or glaciers that...
”, and continue to be recovered.
The brief lists of plants and animals stated below are a fraction of the total number of species found for the period. Most families were more diverse than they are today, and were yet more so in the last interglacial. A great extinction
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
, especially of mammals, continued throughout the end of the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
, and may be continuing today.
Flora
Older Dryas species are usually found in sediment below the bottom layer of the bog.Indicator species are the Alpine plants:
- Betula pubescens or Downy birch (Central Europe);
- PinaceaePinaceaePinaceae are trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales, formerly known as Coniferales. Pinaceae are supported as monophyletic by its protein-type sieve...
or pine family (Poland); - Dryas octopetalaDryas octopetalaDryas octopetala is an arctic-alpine flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is a small prostrate evergreen subshrub forming large colonies, and is a popular flower in rock gardens...
, or dryas; - Salix herbacea, or dwarf willow;
- Oxyria digynaOxyria digynaOxyria digyna a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family. It is common in the tundra of Arctic...
, or mountain sorrel.
Grasslands species are:
- ArtemisiaArtemisia (plant)Artemisia is a large, diverse genus of plants with between 200 to 400 species belonging to the daisy family Asteraceae. It comprises hardy herbs and shrubs known for their volatile oils. They grow in temperate climates of the Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere, usually in dry or semi-dry...
, sagebrush or wormwood; - EphedraEphedraEphedra refers to the plant Ephedra sinica. E. sinica, known in Chinese as ma huang , has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for 5,000 years for the treatment of asthma and hay fever, as well as for the common cold...
, or joint-fir. - Hippophae
Fauna
A well-stocked biozone prevailed on the Arctic plains and thickets of the late Pleistocene. Plains mammals were most predominant.Artiodactyls
Even-toed ungulate
The even-toed ungulates are ungulates whose weight is borne about equally by the third and fourth toes, rather than mostly or entirely by the third as in odd-toed ungulates such as horses....
:
- Bison priscus, the steppe wisent or steppe bison
- Rangifer tarandusReindeerThe reindeer , also known as the caribou in North America, is a deer from the Arctic and Subarctic, including both resident and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare and one has already gone extinct.Reindeer vary considerably in color and size...
, the reindeer or caribou - Megaloceros giganteusIrish ElkThe Irish Elk or Giant Deer , was a species of Megaloceros and one of the largest deer that ever lived. Its range extended across Eurasia, from Ireland to east of Lake Baikal, during the Late Pleistocene. The latest known remains of the species have been carbon dated to about 7,700 years ago...
, the Irish elk - Alces alcesMooseThe moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, the elk - Cervus elaphusRed DeerThe red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, the red deer - Ovibos moschatusMusk OxThe muskox is an Arctic mammal of the family Bovidae, noted for its thick coat and for the strong odor emitted by males, from which its name derives. This musky odor is used to attract females during mating season...
, the musk ox - Saiga tatarica, the saiga
Perissodactyls
Odd-toed ungulate
An odd-toed ungulate is a mammal with hooves that feature an odd number of toes. Odd-toed ungulates comprise the order Perissodactyla . The middle toe on each hoof is usually larger than its neighbours...
:
- Equus ferusHorseThe horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, the wild horse. Many authors refer to it as Equus caballus, but the latter term is most correctly reserved for the domestic horse. Ferus is presumed to be one or more ancestral or related stocks to caballus and has been described as "caballine". - Coelodonta antiquitatis, woolly rhinoceros
Proboscidea
Proboscidea
Proboscidea is a taxonomic order containing one living family, Elephantidae, and several extinct families. This order was first described by J. Illiger in 1881 and encompasses the trunked mammals...
:
- Mammuthus primigeniusMammothA mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
, the wooly mammoth
So much meat on the hoof must have supported large numbers of Carnivora
Carnivora
The diverse order Carnivora |Latin]] carō "flesh", + vorāre "to devour") includes over 260 species of placental mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal...
, such as:
Ursidae:
- Ursus arctosBrown BearThe brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
, the brown bear - Ursus spelaeusCave BearThe cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
, the cave bear
Hyaenidae:
- Crocuta crocutaHyenaHyenas or Hyaenas are the animals of the family Hyaenidae of suborder feliforms of the Carnivora. It is the fourth smallest biological family in the Carnivora , and one of the smallest in the mammalia...
, the spotted hyena
Felidae
Felidae
Felidae is the biological family of the cats; a member of this family is called a felid. Felids are the strictest carnivores of the thirteen terrestrial families in the order Carnivora, although the three families of marine mammals comprising the superfamily pinnipedia are as carnivorous as the...
:
- Panthera spelaea, the cave lion
Canidae
Canidae
Canidae is the biological family of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals that includes wolves, foxes, jackals, coyotes, and domestic dogs. A member of this family is called a canid . The Canidae family is divided into two tribes: Canini and Vulpini...
:
- Canis lupus, the wolf
- Alopex lagopusArctic foxThe arctic fox , also known as the white fox, polar fox or snow fox, is a small fox native to Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and is common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. The Greek word alopex, means a fox and Vulpes is the Latin version...
, the arctic fox
Mustelidae
Mustelidae
Mustelidae , commonly referred to as the weasel family, are a family of carnivorous mammals. Mustelids are diverse and the largest family in the order Carnivora, at least partly because in the past it has been a catch-all category for many early or poorly differentiated taxa...
:
- Gulo guloWolverineThe wolverine, pronounced , Gulo gulo , also referred to as glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae . It is a stocky and muscular carnivore, more closely resembling a small bear than other mustelids...
, the wolverine
The sea also had its share of carnivores, which due to their maritime location, survived until modern times.
Phocidae:
- Pagophilus groenlandicaHarp SealThe harp seal or saddleback seal is a species of earless seal native to the northernmost Atlantic Ocean and adjacent parts of the Arctic Ocean. It now belongs to the monotypic genus Pagophilus. Its scientific name, Pagophilus groenlandicus, means "ice-lover from Greenland", and its synonym, Phoca...
, the harp seal - Pusa hispidaRinged SealThe ringed seal , also known as the jar seal and as netsik or nattiq by the Inuit, is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions...
, the ringed seal
Odobenidae
Odobenidae
Odobenidae is a family of Pinnipeds. The only living species is walrus.In the past, however, the group was much more diverse, and includes more than ten fossil genera.- Taxonomy :All genera, except Odobenus, are extinct.*Prototaria...
:
- Odobenus rosmarusWalrusThe walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
, the walrus
Of the Cetacea
Cetacea
The order Cetacea includes the marine mammals commonly known as whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Cetus is Latin and is used in biological names to mean "whale"; its original meaning, "large sea animal", was more general. It comes from Ancient Greek , meaning "whale" or "any huge fish or sea...
n Odontoceti, the Monodontidae
Monodontidae
The cetacean family Monodontidae comprises two unusual whale species, the narwhal, in which the male has a long tusk, and the white beluga whale...
:
- Delphinapterus leucas, the beluga
Delphinidae:
- Orcinus orcaOrcaThe killer whale , commonly referred to as the orca, and less commonly as the blackfish, is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family. Killer whales are found in all oceans, from the frigid Arctic and Antarctic regions to tropical seas...
, the killer whale
Of the Mysticetian Eschrichtiidae
Eschrichtiidae
Eschrichtiidae is a family of baleen whales in the suborder Mysticeti.At least five genera are recognised, but only a single species from one genus is still alive, the gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus....
:
- Eschrictius robustusGray WhaleThe gray whale, Eschrichtius robustus, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and breeding grounds yearly. It reaches a length of about , a weight of , and lives 50–70 years. The common name of the whale comes from the gray patches and white mottling on its dark skin. Gray whales were...
, the gray whale
The top of the food chain was supported by larger numbers of smaller animals farther down it, which lived in the herbaceous blanket covering the tundra or steppe and helped maintain it by carrying seeds, manuring and aerating it.
Leporidae
Leporidae
Leporids are the approximately 50 species of rabbits and hares which form the family Leporidae. The leporids, together with the pikas, constitute the mammalian order Lagomorpha. Leporids differ from pikas in having short furry tails, and elongated ears and hind legs...
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- Lepus tanaiticusHareHares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares less than one year old are called leverets. Four species commonly known as types of hare are classified outside of Lepus: the hispid hare , and three species known as red rock hares .Hares are very fast-moving...
, the hare
Ochotonidae:
- Ochotona spelaeusPikaThe pika is a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and short tail. The name pika is used for any member of the Ochotonidae, a family within the order of lagomorphs, which also includes the Leporidae . One genus, Ochotona, is recognised within the family, and it includes 30 species...
, the pika
Cricetidae
Cricetidae
The Cricetidae are a family of rodents in the large and complex superfamily Muroidea. It includes true hamsters, voles, lemmings, and New World rats and mice...
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- Lemmus obensisLemmingLemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
, Siberian lemming - DicrostonixLemmingLemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
, collared lemming - Lagurus lagurusSteppe LemmingThe steppe lemming or steppe vole is a small, plump, light grey rodent, similar in appearance to the Norway lemming but not in the same genus. The steppe lemming eats shoots and leaves and is more active at night though it is not strictly nocturnal. In the wild it is found in Russia and Ukraine...
, steppe lemming - Microtus gregalisMicrotusThe genus Microtus is a group of voles found in North America, Europe and northern Asia. The genus name refers to the small ears of these animals. There are 62 species in the genus....
, narrow-headed vole - Arvicola terrestris. Water vole
Sciuridae:
- SpermophilusSpermophilusSpermophilus is a genus of ground squirrels in the family Sciuridae. The majority of ground squirrel species, over 40 in total, are usually placed in this genus...
, ground squirrel
Dipodidae
Dipodidae
The Dipodidae, or dipodids, are a family of rodents found across the northern hemisphere. This family includes over 50 species among the 16 genera....
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- Allactaga jaculusAllactagaThe genus Allactaga contains the four and five-toed jerboas of Asia.-Characteristics:These are hopping rodents of desert and semi-arid regions with long ears, tails and feet. All members of the genus have five toes except for a single species, the Four-toed Jerboa, Allactaga tetradactyla of...
, the jerboa
Humans
Eurasia was populated by Homo sapiens sapiens (Cro-Magnon man) in the late Upper PaleolithicUpper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
stage of tool development. Bands of humans survived by hunting the plains mammals. In north Europe
Prehistoric Europe
Prehistoric Europe refers to the prehistorical period of Europe, usually taken to refer to human prehistory since the Lower Paleolithic, but in principle also extending to geological time scale - for which see Geological history of Europe....
they preferred reindeer; in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
—the wooly mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
. They sheltered in huts and manufactured tools around campfires. Ukrainian shelters were supported by mammoth tusks. Man was already established across Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
and in North America.
Man did not hunt alone. Two domestic dogs, Canis familiaris
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
, have been found in late Pleistocene Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. They were a heavy breed similar to a Great Dane
Great Dane
The Great Dane , also known as German Mastiff or Danish Hound , is a breed of domestic dog known for its giant size...
, perhaps of use in running down Elephantidae. The large number of mammoth bones at campsites make it clear that even then the Elephantidae in Europe were approaching the limit of their duration. Their bones were used for many purposes, not the least interesting of which are the numerous objects of art, including an engraved star map.
Late upper palaeolithic culture was by no means uniform. A large number of local traditions have been defined. The Hamburgian culture had occupied the lowlands and north Germany before the Older Dryas. During the Older Dryas, contemporaneous with the Havelte Group of the late Hamburgian, the Federmesser culture
Federmesser culture
The Federmesser culture is a toolmaking tradition of the late Upper Palaeolithic era, of the Northern European Plain dating to between c. 9800 and 8800 BC...
appeared and occupied Denmark and south Sweden, following the reindeer. South of the Hamburgian was the Magdalenian
Magdalenian
The Magdalenian , refers to one of the later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe, dating from around 17,000 BP to 9,000 BP...
, which at that time was long-standing. In Ukraine was the Molodovan, which used tusks in building shelters.