Late pleistocene insects from the dubrovino site at ob river (West siberia, russia) and their paleoenvironmental significance

Abstract

A blue-grey clay loam lens with plant and insect remains was found in an exposure of the Ob River, 2 km upper Dubrovino village in Novosibirskaya Oblast of Russia. Conventional radiocarbon dating of the Dubrovino deposit is ca 19,444±159 14C BP (23,234±338 cal yr BP) and coincides with Sartan glaciation period (MIS 2). Ninety-two Coleoptera species, dominated by fragments of Curculionidae and Carabidae are represented in the Dubrovino deposit. Species of the tundra-steppe fauna are dominant, followed by meadow-dwelling taxa and coniferous forest taxa. A comparison of the Dubrovino assemblage with the previously studied late Pleistocene Kalistratikha and Bunkovo fossil assemblages showed that tundra-steppe landscapes with coniferous groves and sparse meadow vegetation were typical for this area from the end of Kargin interglacial (MIS 3) through the end of the Sartan glaciation (MIS 2).