Back سهوب الماموث Arabic Тундрастэп Byelorussian Estepa de mamuts Catalan Mamutí step Czech Mammutsteppe German Estepa de mamut Spanish Arotundra Finnish Steppe à mammouths French Estepa mamut Galician Steppa dei mammut Italian

Mammoth steppe

Not to be confused with Steppe mammoth.
Ukok Plateau, one of the last remnants of the mammoth steppe[1]

The mammoth steppe, also known as steppe-tundra, was once the Earth's most extensive biome. During glacial periods in the later Pleistocene it stretched east-to-west, from the Iberian Peninsula in the west of Europe, across Eurasia to North America, through Beringia (the region including the far northwest of Siberia and Alaska and the now submerged land between them) and northwest Canada; from north-to-south, the steppe reached from the Arctic southward to southern Europe, Central Asia and northern China.[2][3][4][5][6] The mammoth steppe was cold and dry, and relatively featureless, though climate, topography, and geography varied considerably throughout. Certain areas of the biome—such as coastal areas—had wetter and milder climates than others. Some areas featured rivers which, through erosion, naturally created gorges, gulleys, or small glens. The continual glacial recession and advancement over millennia contributed more to the formation of larger valleys and different geographical features. Overall, however, the steppe is known to be flat and expansive grassland.[7][6] The vegetation was dominated by palatable, high-productivity grasses, herbs and willow shrubs.[3][6][8]

The animal biomass was dominated by species such as reindeer, muskox, saiga antelope, steppe bison, horses, woolly rhinoceros and woolly mammoth.[7][9] These herbivores, in turn, were followed and preyed upon by various carnivores, such as wolves, brown bears, Panthera spelaea (the cave or steppe-lion), cave hyenas, wolverines, among others, as well as scimitar-toothed cats and giant short-faced bears in east Beringia (with scimitar-toothed cats also having rare records from the mammoth steppe in Eurasia). This ecosystem covered wide areas of the northern part of the globe, and thrived for approximately 100,000 years without major changes, but then diminished to small regions around 12,000 years ago.[7]

Although it was primarily a Eurasian and Beringian biome, an analog of the mammoth steppe existed on the southern edge of the Laurentide sheet in North America as well, and contained many of the same animals such as woolly mammoths, muskoxen, scimitar cats, and caribou.[10]

Modern humans began to inhabit the biome following their expansion out of Africa, reaching the Siberian Arctic by around 45,000 years ago.[11]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference pavelkova2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference adams1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference guthrie1990 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference sher1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference alvarez2011 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference zimov2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference guthrie2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference sher2005 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Kahlke, Ralf-Dietrich (July 2014). "The origin of Eurasian Mammoth Faunas (Mammuthus–Coelodonta Faunal Complex)". Quaternary Science Reviews. 96: 32–49. Bibcode:2014QSRv...96...32K. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2013.01.012.
  10. ^ "Pleistocene Biomes in the Midwest-Steppe Tundra". Explore the Ice Age Midwest. Illinois State Museum. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  11. ^ Pitulko, Vladimir V.; Tikhonov, Alexei N.; Pavlova, Elena Y.; Nikolskiy, Pavel A.; Kuper, Konstantin E.; Polozov, Roman N. (2016-01-15). "Early human presence in the Arctic: Evidence from 45,000-year-old mammoth remains". Science. 351 (6270): 260–263. doi:10.1126/science.aad0554. ISSN 0036-8075.

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