Early pleistocene vegetation and environments near taurida cave (central crimea) on the basis of microphytofossil data

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Abstract

The existence of vegetation of open environments with a predominance of grass-forbs meadow associations and the participation of pine-oak forests was reconstructed on the basis of the study of microphytofossils from the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida cave in central Crimea. These results are consistent with data on the composition of land vertebrates from the Taurida locality. The studied spectrum demonstrates similarity with the spore-pollen assemblage of the Berezan horizon of Ukraine with a maximum age of about 1.8 Ma. Based on the abundance of trichomes and plant fibers similar to those of Ficus carica Linnaeus, 1753 in the coprolites, it is assumed that the extinct hyenas Pachycrocuta brevirostris (Gervais, 1850) ate fig fruits in certain seasons.

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About the authors

D. A. Lopatina

Geological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: dalopat@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

O. G. Zanina

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: dalopat@mail.ru

Academician of the RAS

Russian Federation, Pushchino, Moscow Oblast

A. V. Lopatin

Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Email: dalopat@mail.ru
Russian Federation, Moscow

References

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Supplementary files

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2. Fig. 1. Content of microfossils in the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida Cave in central Crimea.

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3. Fig. 2. Microphytofossils from the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida Cave in central Crimea: a–z – pollen: a – Pinus s/g Haploxylon; b – Tilia; c – Quercus; g, g – Asteraceae; d – Betula; e – Alnus; h – Poaceae; i–r – phytoliths: i–l – blocky form; m, n – elongate entire form; o – elongate dentate form; p – crenate form; p – spheroid psilate (left) and crenate (right) forms; s – cystolith; a, b, d, i, r – light microscope; c, d, f–z, j–p, s – SEM.

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4. Fig. 3. Microphytofossils from the Lower Pleistocene deposits of the Taurida Cave in central Crimea (a–e, l–n, r–u) and the modern Ficus carica Linnaeus, 1753 from Crimea (g–j, o, p): a–e – fossil trichomes (acute bulbosus); g – fragment of the fruit shell of F. carica; h–j – trichomes of F. carica; l–n – fossil plant fibers; o, p – plant fibers of F. carica; r–u – fossil stellate trichomes; a, b, r–u – light microscope; c–p – SEM.

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