Plants, bugs, and a giant mammoth tusk: Paleoecology of Last Chance Creek, Yukon Territory
Description
An exceptional, complete tusk of a mature male woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was recovered from a placer mining exposure on Last Chance Creek, Yukon Territory in July, 2002. The tusk is associated with peat dated to 25 700 ± 400 14C yrs BP. The direct association of Pleistocene fossils with past vegetation is rare, and allows a comparison between the local vegetation of Last Chance Creek and megafauna during the last glaciation. Preliminary analyses of plant and insect macrofossils from the peat indicate a vegetation cover composed of a mosaic of mesic riparian meadows with sedges, mosses, and willows, and well-drained grasslands or steppe with diverse herbs and sage. This discovery supports the interpretation that the "Mammoth-Steppe" biome existed near the onset of the last glaciation in eastern Beringia.