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To understand the causes and implications of an extinction event, detailed information is necessary. However, this can be challenging when working with poorly resolved paleontological data sets. One approach to increase the data resolution is by combining different methods. In this study, we used both radiocarbon and genetic data to reconstruct the population history and extinction dynamics of the woolly mammoth in northern Siberia. We generated 88 new radiocarbon dates and combined these with previously published dates from 626 specimens to construct Bayesian age models. These models show that mammoths disappeared on the eastern Siberian mainland before the onset of the Younger Dryas (12.9–11.7 ky cal BP). Mammoths did however persist in the northernmost parts of central and western Siberia until the early Holocene. Further genetic results of 131 high quality mitogenomes, including 22 new mitogenomes generated in this study, support the hypothesis that mammoths from, or closely related to, a central and/or west- Siberian population recolonized Wrangel Island over the now submerged northern Siberian plains. As mammoths became trapped on the island due to rising sea levels, they lived another ca. 6000 years on Wrangel Island before eventually going extinct ca. 4000 years ago.

Although sled dogs are one of the most specialized groups of dogs, their origin and evolution has received much less attention than many other dog groups. We applied a genomic approach to investigate their spatiotemporal emergence by sequencing the genomes of 10 modern Greenland sled dogs, an similar to 9500-year-old Siberian dog associated with archaeological evidence for sled technology, and an similar to 33,000-year-old Siberian wolf. We found noteworthy genetic similarity between the ancient dog and modern sled dogs. We detected gene flow from Pleistocene Siberian wolves, but not modern American wolves, to present-day sled dogs. The results indicate that the major ancestry of modern sled dogs traces back to Siberia, where sled dog-specific haplotypes of genes that potentially relate to Arctic adaptation were established by 9500 years ago.

Grey wolves (Canis lupus) are one of the few large terrestrial carnivores that have maintained a wide geographical distribution across the Northern Hemisphere throughout the Pleistocene and Holocene. Recent genetic studies have suggested that, despite this continuous presence, major demographic changes occurred in wolf populations between the Late Pleistocene and early Holocene, and that extant wolves trace their ancestry to a single Late Pleistocene population. Both the geographical origin of this ancestral population and how it became widespread remain unknown. Here, we used a spatially and temporally explicit modelling framework to analyse a data set of 90 modern and 45 ancient mitochondrial wolf genomes from across the Northern Hemisphere, spanning the last 50,000 years. Our results suggest that contemporary wolf populations trace their ancestry to an expansion from Beringia at the end of the Last Glacial Maximum, and that this process was most likely driven by Late Pleistocene ecological fluctuations that occurred across the Northern Hemisphere. This study provides direct ancient genetic evidence that long-range migration has played an important role in the population history of a large carnivore, and provides insight into how wolves survived the wave of megafaunal extinctions at the end of the last glaciation. Moreover, because Late Pleistocene grey wolves were the likely source from which all modern dogs trace their origins, the demographic history described in this study has fundamental implications for understanding the geographical origin of the dog.

Extant Canis lupus genetic diversity can be grouped into three phylogenetically distinct clades: Eurasian and American wolves and domestic dogs.1 Genetic studies have suggested these groups trace their origins to a wolf population that expanded during the last glacial maximum (LGM)1-3 and replaced local wolf populations.4 Moreover, ancient genomes from the Yana basin and the Taimyr peninsula provided evidence of at least one extinct wolf lineage that dwelled in Siberia during the Pleistocene.35 Previous studies have suggested that Pleistocene Siberian canids can be classified into two groups based on cranial morphology. Wolves in the first group are most similar to present-day populations, although those in the second group possess intermediate features between dogs and wolves.67 However, whether this morphological classification represents distinct genetic groups remains unknown. To investigate this question and the relationships between Pleistocene canids, present-day wolves, and dogs, we resequenced the genomes of four Pleistocene canids from Northeast Siberia dated between >50 and 14 ka old, including samples from the two morphological categories. We found these specimens cluster with the two previously sequenced Pleistocene wolves, which are genetically more similar to Eurasian wolves. Our results show that, though the four specimens represent extinct wolf lineages, they do not form a monophyletic group. Instead, each Pleistocene Siberian canid branched off the lineage that gave rise to present-day wolves and dogs. Finally, our results suggest the two previously described morphological groups could represent independent lineages similarly related to present-day wolves and dogs.

Although sled dogs are one of the most specialized groups of dogs, their origin and evolution has received much less attention than many other dog groups. We applied a genomic approach to investigate their spatiotemporal emergence by sequencing the genomes of 10 modern Greenland sled dogs, an ~9500-year-old Siberian dog associated with archaeological evidence for sled technology, and an ~33,000-year-old Siberian wolf. We found noteworthy genetic similarity between the ancient dog and modern sled dogs. We detected gene flow from Pleistocene Siberian wolves, but not modern American wolves, to present-day sled dogs. The results indicate that the major ancestry of modern sled dogs traces back to Siberia, where sled dog-specific haplotypes of genes that potentially relate to Arctic adaptation were established by 9500 years ago.

Although sled dogs are one of the most specialized groups of dogs, their origin and evolution has received much less attention than many other dog groups. We applied a genomic approach to investigate their spatiotemporal emergence by sequencing the genomes of 10 modern Greenland sled dogs, an ~9500-year-old Siberian dog associated with archaeological evidence for sled technology, and an ~33,000-year-old Siberian wolf. We found noteworthy genetic similarity between the ancient dog and modern sled dogs. We detected gene flow from Pleistocene Siberian wolves, but not modern American wolves, to present-day sled dogs. The results indicate that the major ancestry of modern sled dogs traces back to Siberia, where sled dog-specific haplotypes of genes that potentially relate to Arctic adaptation were established by 9500 years ago.

Recent palaeogenetic studies indicate a highly dynamic history in collared lemmings (Dicrostonyx spp.), with several demographical changes linked to climatic fluctuations that took place during the last glaciation. At the western range margin of D.torquatus, these changes were characterized by a series of local extinctions and recolonizations. However, it is unclear whether this pattern represents a local phenomenon, possibly driven by ecological edge effects, or a global phenomenon that took place across large geographical scales. To address this, we explored the palaeogenetic history of the collared lemming using a next-generation sequencing approach for pooled mitochondrial DNA amplicons. Sequences were obtained from over 300 fossil remains sampled across Eurasia and two sites in North America. We identified five mitochondrial lineages of D.torquatus that succeeded each other through time across Europe and western Russia, indicating a history of repeated population extinctions and recolonizations, most likely from eastern Russia, during the last 50000years. The observation of repeated extinctions across such a vast geographical range indicates large-scale changes in the steppe-tundra environment in western Eurasia during the last glaciation. AllHolocene samples, from across the species' entire range, belonged to only one of the five mitochondrial lineages. Thus, extant D.torquatus populations only harbour a small fraction of the total genetic diversity that existed across different stages of the Late Pleistocene. In North American samples, haplotypes belonging to both D.groenlandicus and D.richardsoni were recovered from a Late Pleistocene site in south-western Canada. This suggests that D.groenlandicus had a more southern and D.richardsoni a more northern glacial distribution than previously thought. This study provides significant insights into the population dynamics of a small mammal at a large geographical scale and reveals a rather complex demographical his

An assemblage of Pleistocene faunal remains was collected by a field party of «Eastern Laptev Sea - Buor Khaya Peninsula» expedition (Strauss et al., 2011) from Orto-Stan River, Buor-Khaya Peninsula. The bones were sampled from a concentration located next to the edge of a thermokast lake (N 71° 36,120' E 132° 15,597'). Two mammoth bones with human impact and a horse bone were dated directly. The site age is estimated at 27,000 – 27,600 14C yrs BP, which corresponds to the end of MIS 3, or slightly older if the horse bone belongs to the same level. These dates indicate that the mammoth remains were accumulating for at least 500 years. Mammoth remains constitute two thirds of the yield. There are at least five mammoth individuals, both adults and juveniles. Two pelvic bones have identical blind holes near the coxofemoral articulation on the bones’ caudal sides., Bone cracks caused by such damage loosened the joint and facilitated disarticulation during the butchering process. Multiple lines engraved by sharp lithic tool are visible on caudal surface of a right pelvic bone. Lines are 1.2-2 mm wide and ~0.7 mm deep. Except for the butchery marks, the Buor-Khaya/Orto-Stan mammoth site provides evidence for killing these animals. Finds from Yana RHS site (Nikolskiy, Pitulko, 2013) suggest that people applied a «spear-fall» hunting strategy, similar to that practiced by African hunter-gatherers. For example, Kulik (1971) describes a specific coup de grâce method practiced by Pygmies to cut important arteries and cause mortal bleeding by trusting a spear into the elephant’s trunk . The position of the cut-marks on the edge of the nasal opening of the mammoth skull fragments at the Buor-Khaya/Orto-Stan, i.e. near the trunk, suggests that they were caused by the same action. Therefore, Buor-Khaya/Orto-Stan contains sufficient evidence to be accepted as a kill-butchery mammoth site, and currently the northernmost Paleolithic site in the world, which sheds light on human dispe