The "twilight" of the mammoth fauna in the Asiatic Arctic

A vast collection of mammal-bone radiocarbon data makes possible the constr uction of histograms (at 1000-year intervals) based on 262 dates for variou s animals belonging to the "mammoth fauna" of the Asiatic polar region. The date distribution indicates a shift in biological habitats during the last 50 ka (50 000 yrs) in the continental and island areas. Mammoth fauna was uniformly distributed over the whole territory of northern Asia until the b eginning of the Holocene. Later, mammoth fauna moved into marginal areas an d its components then began to show some quantitative oscillations. Further evaluations of the variations that occurred require additional research an d more radiocarbon data. However, environmental changes related to climatic warming and sea-level rise seem to be the main reasons behind the disappea rance of the mammoth fauna.