New data on late Pleistocene megafauna from Denisova cave

The article discusses the faunistic collection obtained during the study of the Pleistocene deposits of layers 11 and 12 in the farther part of the South Chamber of Denisova Cave in 2021. In total, more than 33,000 bone remains were analyzed. Of these, 9 % are identifiable, belonging to at least 37 species of mammals, as well as fish and birds. Bone remains of a small size class from 1-2 to 2-5 cm predominate, making up 96 % of the collection in total. Among the identifiable remains, the majority are fragments of teeth and bones of the distal extremities. Among the representatives of megafauna in the taphocenosis, the most numerous bones are represented by the Siberian ibex and argali (37.9 %), horses (10.9 %), bison (7.6 %), woolly rhinoceros (5.5 %), gazelle and saiga (2.9 %). Single fragments of teeth and bones are from mammoth and reindeer. The carpal 2+3 bone and a fragment of the first phalanx belong to Spirocerus kiakhtensis. The proportion of predators in the taphocenosis is 33.4 %. The cave hyena (11.4 %), gray and red wolves (8.7 %), foxes (7 %) and brown bear (5.5 %) dominate. Separate finds include cave lion, snow leopard, lynx and manul cat. The theriofauna lived in moderately arid steppe landscapes with a snow depth of not more than 15-20 cm. Forest areas occupied a limited area. Numerous ungual phalanges of a brown bear, mammoth bone remains, a part of the spine, and a whole femur of a Siberian mountain goat are possibly associated with the activity of the Paleolithic humans, as well as individual bones with the traces of burning and cut marks by lithic tools.