Mongolian gazelle (Procapra cf. gutturosa Pallas, 1777) in the Pleistocene of Transbaikalia and Altai

Abstract

More than 1500 bones of the skull and postcranial skeleton of the Mongolian gazelle (Procapra cf. gutturosa Pallas, 1777) from 4 Paleolithic sites of Western Transbaikalia (Varvarina Gora, Kamenka, Khotyk, Tolbaga) and 3 cave localities of the northwestern Altai (Denisova, Strashnaya, Kaminnaya) were studied. For comparison, a large collection of skeletal bones from 56 individuals of modern P. gutturosa, collected on the territory of the “Dzeren Valley” nature reserve, was used. A number of morphometric differences in the structure of the lower jaw and bones of the postcranial skeleton between modern and fossil Mongolian gazelle have been revealed. Pleistocene P. cf. gutturosa had shorter and relatively massive limb bones and was significantly smaller in body size than the modern one. At the sites of Transbaikalia, Mongolian gazelle bones can account for up to half of all megafauna remains, in the Middle-Late Pleistocene layers of Altai caves, up to 3–4%. During the periods of glaciation, the Mongolian gazelles of Transbaikalia and Altai lived in conditions of cold, dry and little snow steppe or mountain-steppe landscapes. In the interglacial and interstadials, they continued to live here in the conditions of steppe or forest-steppe landscapes.