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13C/12C Ratios of Pleistocene Mummified Remains from Beringia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Miguel Bombin  and
Karlis Muehlenbachs
Miguel Bombin
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
Karlis Muehlenbachs
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E3, Canada
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Abstract

During the Quaternary glacial episodes, when sea level was considerably lower, Asia and North America were linked by large extensions of circumarctic land (Beringia), which remained unglaciated. This land mass served not only as a biogeographical bridge for plants, animals, and humans, but also supported a biome very different from present tundra or boreal coniferous forests, which was dominated by steppes and a rich mammalian megafauna. Carbon stable isotope ratios of Beringian late Pleistocene mummified remains of bison, equids, mammoth, caribou, musk-ox, moose, woolly rhino, and other undetermined species, found preserved in permafrost, indicate that these megaherbivores fed exclusively on C3 plants, and that C4 grasses were not differentially ingested by bison, as previously suggested. Paleoclimatic constraints probably prevented the formation of a warm-season (C4) guild during the later part of the growing season in the steppes of Beringia during the last glaciation.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 23 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 123 - 129
Copyright
University of Washington

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