IDENTIFICATION OF SOME SPECIES OF SMALL MAMMALS FROM THE CAVES OF NORTHWESTERN ALTAI BY LONG BONES OF THE FORELIMBS
Abstract
The article presents the results of studies of the forelimb skeleton of the most common small mammals in fossil form from cave deposits of the Northwestern Altai: the northern pika Ochotona hyperborea, the Altai mole Talpa (Asioscalops) altaica, the red squirrel Sciurus vulgaris, the flying squirrel Pteromys volans, the long-tailed ground squirrel Spermophilus undulatus, the common hamster Cricetus cricetus, the Altai zokor Myospalax myospalax and the water vole Arvicola amphibius. The dependence of the limb anatomy on the animal’s locomotion modes is shown. The main differences at the genus in the structure of the long bones of the limbs and their girdles are revealed. Keys and identification tables for limb bones based on measurements of contemporary animals are proposed. Testing of the developed method for determining long limb bones on fossil small mammals from the Chagyrskaya and Kozya caves confirmed that the use of postcranial fragments expands the species composition of the fauna of the site.
Downloads
References
Akaevskij A.I. Anatomy of Domestic Animals. Moscow : Kolos, 1984. 543 p. (In Russ.)
Vinogradov B.S. Jerboas. Fauna of the USSR. Mammals. Vol. 3. Issue 4. Moscow ; Leningrad: Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1937. 197 p. (In Russ.)
Gambaryan P.P., Dukelskaya N.M. The Rat. Moscow : Sovetskaya nauka, 1955. 254 p. (In Russ.)
Gambaryan P.P., Zherebtsova O.V., Platonov V.V. Convergent Development of the Subcutaneous Muscles in Moles and Golden Moles. Zhurnal obshchej biologii = Biology Bulletin Reviews. 2010;71(3):244-255. (In Russ with English abstract)
Gromov I.M., Bibikov D.I., Kalabuhov N.I., Mejer M.N. Fauna of the USSR. Mammals. Ground Squirrels (Marmotinae). T. 3, Vol. 2. Moscow ; Leningrad : Nauka, 1965. 468 p. (In Russ.)
Gromova V.I. Identification of Mammals of the USSR by Skeletal Bones. Issue I: Identification by Large Tubular Bones. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1950. 279 p. (Proceedings of the Quaternary Commission. Vol. IX). (In Russ.)
Gromova V.I. Osteological Differences of the Genera Capra (Goats) and Ovis (Sheep): Guide to Identifying Fossil Remains. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1953. 124 p. (Proceedings of the Quaternary Commission. Vol. X). (In Russ.)
Gromova V.I. Identification of Mammals of the USSR by Skeletal Bones. Issue II: Identification by Large Tarsal Bones. Moscow ; Leningrad : Izd-vo AN SSSR, 1960. 121 p. (Proceedings of the Quaternary Commission. Vol. XVI) (In Russ.)
Dolgov V.A. On the Variability of Some Bones of the Postcranial Skeleton of Shrews (Mammalia, Soricidae). Acta theriologica. 1961;5(5):203–227. (In Russ.)
Zhuravlev O.P. On the Method of Field Determination of Skeletal Bones of Domestic Sheep and Goats from Archaeological Sites. In: New Methods of Archaeological Research. Kiev : Naukova dumka, 1982. Pp. 205–216. (In Russ.)
Ilyashenko V.B. Variability of Elements of the Postcranial Skeleton of Siberian Shrews and Its Diagnostic Significance: Abstract dis. … Cand. Biol. Sciences. Novosibirsk, 1998. 22 p. (In Russ.)
Lobachev V.S., Fomin S.V. Identification of Jerboas of the Subfamilies Allactaginae and Dipodinae by the Bones of the Postcranial Skeleton. In: Jerboas of the Fauna of the USSR. Iss. 2. Tashkent : Fan, 1988a. Pp. 7–9. (In Russ.)
Lobachev V.S., Fomin S.V. On Sexual Dimorphism of the Sizes of the Bones of the Postcranial Skeleton of Some Species of Jerboas. In: Jerboas of the Fauna of the USSR. Iss. 2. Tashkent : Fan, 1988b. Pp. 54–55. (In Russ.)
Lobachev V.S., Fomin S.V. Features of the Bone Structure of Three-Toed Jerboas from Mongolia and Central Asia. In: Systematics and Phylogeny of Rodents and Lagomorphs. Moscow : Tovarishchestvo nauchnyh izdanij KMK, 2000. Pp. 91–93. (In Russ.)
Interdisciplinary studies of the Chagyrskaya Cave — a Middle Paleolithic site in Altai. Novosibirsk : Izd-vo In-ta arheologii i etnografii SO RAN, 2018. 468 p. (In Russ with English abstract) Perepelova A.A. Features of the Locomotor Apparatus of Moles (Talpidae). In: Actual Problems of Modern Theriology. Novosibirsk : Sibregion Info, 2012. P. 73. (In Russ.)
Polyakova R.S., Sokolov A.S. The Structure of the Organs of Movement in the Flying Squirrel (Pteromys volans L.) in Connection with Its Gliding Flight. Zoologicheskij zhurnal = Zoological Journal. 1965;46(6):902–915. (In Russ.)
Serdyuk N.V., Kolobova K.A. Methodological Aspects of the Study of Small Mammals of the Chagyrskaya Cave (Northwestern Altai) Using the Example of Field Season Materials. In: Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Adjacent Territories. Vol. XXV. Novosibirsk : Izd-vo In-ta arheologii i etnografii SO RAN, 2019. Pp. 245–252. (In Russ with English abstract). https://doi.org/10.17746/2658-6193.2019.25.245-252
Fomin S.V., Lobachev V.S. Supracondylar Foramen of the Humerus and Its Use in the Taxonomy of Small Mammals. In: Systematics and Phylogeny of Rodents and Lagomorphs. Moscow : Tovarishchestvo nauchnyh izdanij KMK, 2000. Pp. 168–170. (In Russ.)
Kharevich V.M., Bocharova E.N., Chistyakov P.V., Gashenko A.V., Koliasnikova A.S., Parkhomchuk E.V., Vasilyev S.K., Alekseytseva V.V., Kharevich A.V., Kolobova K.A. Studies of the New Altai Middle Palaeolithic Site Kozya Cave in the 2021 Field Season. In: Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Siberia and Adjacent Territories. Vol. XXVII. Novosibirsk : Izd-vo In-ta arheologii i etnografii SO RAN, 2021. Pp. 300–307. (In Russ with English abstract) https://doi.org/10.17746/2658-6193.2021.27.0300-0307
Bickelmann C., Jimenez R., Richardson M.K., Sanchez-Villagra M.R. Humerus Development in Moles (Talpidae, Mammalia). Acta Zoologica (Stockholm). 2014;95(3): 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1111/azo.12024
Campbell B. The Shoulder Anatomy of the Moles. A Study in Phylogeny and Adaptation. American Journal of Anatomy. 1939;64(1):1–39.
Castiella M.J., Laville E., Renous S., Gasc J.-P. Caracteristiques morphologiques du membre anterieur de la taupe commune, Talpa europaea (Mammalia, Talpidae). Mammalia. 1992;56(2):265–285. https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm-1992-0211 (In French)
Costes P., Klein E., Delapré A., Houssin C., Nicolas V., Cornette R. Comparative Morpho- Functional Analysis of the Humerus and Ulna in Three Western European Moles Species of the Genus Talpa, Including the Newly Described T. aquitania. Journal of Anatomy. 2023;242(2):257–276. https://doi.org/10.1111/joa.13772.
Dodelin B. Identification des Chiroptères de France à partir de restes osseux. La Ravoire: Gap édition, 2002. 48 p. (In French)
Edwards L.F. Morphology of the Forelimb of the Mole (Scalops aquaticus, L.) in Relation to Its Habits. Ohio Journal of Science. 1937;37(1):20–41.
Emry R.J., Thorington R.W. Jr. Descriptive and Comparative Osteology of the Oldest Fossil Squirrel, Protosciurus (Rodentia: Sciuridae). Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1982. 35 p. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810266.47.1
France D.L. Human and Nonhuman Bone Identification: A Color Atlas. Boca Raton : CRC Press, 2008. 753 p. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781420062878
Freeman P.W. Redescription and Comparison of a Highly Fossorial Mole, Domninoides mimicus (Insectivora, Talpidae), from the Clarendonian. American Museum Novitates. 1979;2667:1–16.
Gee H. The Distinction between Postcranial Bones of Bos primigenius B Bojanus, 1827 and Bison priscus Bojanus, 1827 from the British Pleistocene and the Taxonomic Status of Bos and Bison. Journal of Quaternary Science. 1993;8(1):79–92.
Gilbert B.M. Mammalian Osteology. Springfield : Missouri Archaeological Society Publ., 1990. 428 p.
Haruda A. Separating Sheep (Ovis aries L.) and Goats (Capra hircus L.) Using Geometric Morphometric Methods: an Investigation of Astragalus Morphology from Late and Final Bronze Age Central Asian Contexts. International Journal of Osteoarchaeology. 2017;27(4):551–562.
Johnson E.V. A Skeletal Comparison of Selected Small Mammals [Online source]. University of Exeter. 2016. P. 1–10.
Moore T.Y., Organ C.L., Edwards S.V., Biewener A.A., Tabin C.J., Jenkins F.A. Jr, Cooper K.L. Multiple Phylogenetically Distinct Events Shaped the Evolution of Limb Skeletal Morphologies Associated with Bipedalism in the Jerboas. Current Biology. 2015;25(21):2785–2794. https:// doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.037
Olsen S.J. Post-Cranial Skeletal Characters of Bison and Bos. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Vol. 35. Cambridge : Peabody Museum Press, 1960. Pp. 1–76.
Özkan Z.E. Macro-Anatomical Investigations on the Forelimb Skeleton of Mole-Rat (Spalax leucodon Nordmann). Veterinarski Arhiv. 2002;72(2):91–99.
Pales L., Garcia M. Atlas ostéologique des mammiferes. Vol. II. Paris : CNRS, 1981. 753 p. (In French)
Prummel W., Frisch H. A Guide for the Distinction of Species, Sex and Body Side in Bones of Sheep and Goat. Journal of Archaeological Science. 1986;13:567–577.
Reed C.A. Locomotion and Appendicular Anatomy in Three Soricoid insectivores. The American Midland Naturalist. 1951;45(3):513–671.
Rose K.D., DeLeon V.B., Missiaen P., Rana R., Sahni A., Singh L., Smith T. Early Eocene Lagomorph (Mammalia) from Western India and the Early Diversification of Lagomorpha. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2008;275(1639):1203–1208. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1661
Seckel L., Janis C. Convergences in Scapula Morphology among Small Cursorial Mammals: an Osteological Correlate for Locomotory Specialization. Journal of Mammalian Evolution. 2008;15:261–279. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-008-9085-7
Thorington R.W. Jr., Darrow K. Anatomy of the Squirrel Wrist: Bones, Ligaments, and Muscles. Journal of Morphology. 2000;246(2):85–102. https://doi.org/-10.1002/1097-4687(200011)246:2<85::AID-JMOR4>3.0.CO;2-5.
Zeder M.A., Lapham H.A. Assessing the Reliability of Criteria Used to Identify Postcranial Bones in Sheep, Ovis, and Goats, Capra. Journal of Archaeological Science. 2010;37:2887–2905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2010.06.032
Copyright (c) 2025 Н.В. Сердюк
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research is a golden publisher, as we allow self-archiving, but most importantly we are fully transparent about your rights.
Authors may present and discuss their findings ahead of publication: at biological or scientific conferences, on preprint servers, in public databases, and in blogs, wikis, tweets, and other informal communication channels.
Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research allows authors to deposit manuscripts (currently under review or those for intended submission to ABS) in non-commercial, pre-print servers such as ArXiv.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
2.jpg)
