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Late Quaternary shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Priamurye (Russian Far East) according to data from Koridornaya Cave: species diversity and stratigraphical aspects

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Abstract

During excavations at Koridornaya Cave (Pompeevskiy Ridge, Russian Far East) in 2017–2018 numerous skeletal elements of late Quaternary mammals were recovered for the first time in Priamurye. The aim of this work is to determine the shrew (Soricidae) species and to estimate their abundance. In the deposits of Koridornaya Cave, 890 cranial remains of shrews were found belonging to 10 species from genera: Sorex, Neomys, Beremendia, and Crocidura. The formation period of the deposits is determined as the Last Glacial Interstadial (MIS 3), and the upper part of the deposits contains also Holocene (MIS 1) components. The studied Late Pleistocene communities of shrews of the Pompeevskiy Ridge included modern inhabitants of this territory (S. caecutiens, S. isodon, S. unguiculatus, S. daphaenodon, S. roboratus, S. minutissimus, N. fodiens, and C. lasiura) and S. tundrensis; C. ex gr. suaveolens appeared in the Holocene. Sorex gracillimus, which currently lives here, was not recorded either because it was absent during the time of deposition of the fauna or it was extremely rare. Because of remaining uncertainties, within the framework of this study, B. minor is not considered a part of the Late Pleistocene fauna of Far Eastern shrews. The dominant species in the shrew communities in the Last Glacial Interstadial at the Pompeevskiy Ridge was S. caecutiens, just as in the shrew communities during Late Pleistocene to Holocene in the southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains and in most of modern shrew communities in the south of the Russian Far East.

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Data availability

All material of shrews analysed in this paper is stored in the collection of the Laboratory of Theriology at the Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alexander Gladchenkov and Alexander Gusev for their participation in the excavations of the Koridornaya Cave. We are grateful to Prof. Dr. V.A. Nesterenko and Dr. E.P. Izvarin for proofreading the manuscript and valuable clarifications. We are grateful to the reviewers Dr. Lutz Christian Maul (Senckenberg Research Station of Quaternary Palaeontology, Weimar) and Dr. Lars W. van den Hoek Ostende (Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden) for carefully reading our article, making constructive edits, suggestions and comments that improved the text and presentation of results in our article. Dr. Alan Lord (Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt) is much acknowledged for improving the English.

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Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, theme No. 124012200182-1.

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  1. Federal Scientific Center of the East Asia Terrestrial Biodiversity, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 100-Letiya Vladivostoku ave, 159, 690022, Vladivostok, Russia

    Valeriya E. Omelko & Mikhail P. Tiunov

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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Data collection, material preparation and data discussion were performed by Mikhail P. Tiunov. Material preparation, taxa identification and analysis were performed by Valeriya E. Omelko. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Valeriya E. Omelko. Both authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript and read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Valeriya E. Omelko.

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The work was supported by a state assignment from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation [topic No. 124012200182-1].

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Omelko, V.E., Tiunov, M.P. Late Quaternary shrews (Soricomorpha: Soricidae) from Priamurye (Russian Far East) according to data from Koridornaya Cave: species diversity and stratigraphical aspects. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 104, 419–434 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-024-00601-w

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