Pleistocene Mammals at PIN

Because Russia is so far north, most of its territory was covered by glaciers during the Pleistocene ice ages. As a result, there are many geological deposits from this time period that contain fossil mammals. Many of the most famous Pleistocene mammals remains are from Russia, including frozen mammoths that still contain stomach contents, hair, DNA, and muscle. The Paleontological Institute has a large collection of Pleistocene mammals from Russia, the former Soviet Union, and Europe, many of which are on display. In the entrance hall is a mounted mammoth skeleton (right) from a locality near Moscow.

Like the Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley, PIN also has fossil specimens of the "Irish elk" (which, incidentally, did not live only in Ireland and wasn't a true elk). At the left is a mounted skeleton of Megaloceros giganteus, from the late Pleistocene of Ryazanskaya Oblast, near the city of Sapozhka. If you click on the picture you will see a larger view with several other Irish elk skulls on the wall on the right and a reconstruction painting on the wall behind the skeleton.

Several other mammoth skulls can be found in the PIN exhibits. These, at the right, are from Siberia and are from 150,000 to 10,000 years old — comparatively young for fossils!

This is a reconstruction of the Woolly Rhinoceros of Siberia and Northern Europe. All of the reconstructions are done by the same artist, including the Irish Elk painting.