Work

Habitat reconstruction for the Late Pleistocene Siberian saber-toothed cat Homotherium using microphytofossils

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The frozen mummy of a saber-toothed cat Homotherium latidens cub was found in the Upper Pleistocene permafrost of the Yedoma deposits on the Badyarikha River (the right tributary of the Indigirka River) in the northeast of Yakutia (East Siberia, Russia). We present the results of a study of organic microfossils (pollen, spores, plant detritus, etc.) and phytoliths from a deposit sample collected at the site of the discovery of the frozen mummy. Habitat of the Siberian Homotherium in the Badyarikha River region is reconstructed as a floodplain mature larch forest and mesic sedge-grass-forb meadows.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-26872-7

Authors: A. V. Lopatin, D. A. Lopatina, O. G. Zanina, A. V. Protopopov, A. I. Klimovsky

Institutions: Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Paleontology A A Borisyak, Geological Institute, Institute of Physical-Chemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha

Language: English

Topic: Geology and Paleoclimatology Research

Subfield: Atmospheric Science

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690

Funders: Russian Science Foundation, Russian Academy of Sciences