Pliocene and Pleistocene biostratigraphic succession of Transbaikalia with emphasis on small mammals

• Published in: Quaternary international 2000-01, Vol.68-71, p.67-75
• Main Authors: Erbajeva, Margarita A, Alexeeva, Nadezhda V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1040-6182; 1873-4553
• DOI: 10.1016/S1040-6182(00)00033-1

This paper deals with the Pliocene, Pleistocene and Holocene mammalian faunas of the Transbaikal area for which 15 successive mammalian faunas are recognized. This review is based on the study of new paleontological materials obtained from several Late Cenozoic localities and reexamination of existing faunal data. Stratigraphically, the oldest fauna is known as Udunginian. It contains mostly fossils of forest inhabitants and few arvicolids. This fauna was replaced by the next Pliocene hipparion assemblage known as the Chikoi Faunistic Complex, characterized by the dominance of forest-steppe and open landscape inhabitants, as well as by the abundance and diversity of rooted arvicolids. The Itantsinian Complex is the following faunistic level of the Late Pliocene. It is characterized by the first appearance of Equus and Spermophilus and by the presence of progressive taxa of rooted voles. The Early Pleistocene fauna is characterized by the appearance and abundance of rootless arvicolids and by the continued existence of the latest rooted voles. The Middle Pleistocene Tologoi Faunistic Complex is distinguished from the preceding one by the disappearance of rooted voles. The Late Pleistocene fauna featured a diversity of Microtus taxa and an abundance of Lasiopodomys and Ochotona species. The majority of the Late Pleistocene small mammals belong to recent species, although some of them were distributed over a greater area at that time than at present.