Two incomplete skeletons of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from the late Pleistocene in the Kirov Region, European Russia

Two incomplete skeletons of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) from the late Pleistocene in the Kirov Region, European Russia

Petrova E.A., Masutin V.V., Zhuykova I.A.

P. 157-175

This paper presents a description of two unknown incomplete woolly mammoth skeletons discovered in the Kirov Region of the European part of Russia. The first skeleton was found on the Vetluga River, near to the Village of Chernovskoe. The second one was discovered on the Chernyanka River, near to the Village of Shaleevshchina. The Vetluga mammoth showed replacement of the lower molars — m2 by m3, and some unfused epiphyses of the bones. Based on qualitative and metric morphological data this skeleton was determined as belonging to an adult male, which probably died at the age of 35–43 years. Its mandible and dentition have a typical morphology, similar to Mammuthus primigenius. The Chernyanka mammoth was a female of estimated age 50–60 years at death. Compared to other European and Siberian skeletons, the Vetluga and Chernyanka mammoths have a body size similar to Mammuthus primigenius, and lived in the late Pleistocene.DOI: 10.15298/rusjtheriol.16.2.05

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