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The remains of 12 canid species that date back ca. 4.9 myr have been found at 116 paleontological localities. Among these localities, eight are dated to the Pliocene age, 12 are dated to the Early Pleistocene age, 12 are from the Middle Pleistocene age, while the most numerous group includes 84 sites from the Late Pleistocene–Holocene age. Some, especially older forms such as Eucyon odessanus and Nyctereutes donnezani, have only been found at single sites, while the remains of species from the genus Lycaon, Canis and Vulpes have been recorded at numerous sites from the last 2 myr. Ancient canids such as Eucyon and Nyctereutes had already vanished from Poland in the Earliest Pleistocene, between 2.5 and 2.2 myr ago. Poland’s extant canid fauna is characterised by the presence of two new species, which spread into the territory due to a human introduction (Nyctereutes procyonoides) or natural expansion (Canis aureus). Research indicates a strong competition between dogs, especially between Lycaon, Canis and Cuon, with a strong lycaon-limiting effect on the wolf between 2.5 and 0.4 myr ago. After the extinction of Lycaon lycaonoides, Canis lupus evolved rapidly, increasing in number and size, and taking over the niche occupied by Lycaon. In order to reduce competition, the body size of Cuon alpinus gradually reduced, and it became an animal adapted to the forest, highland and mountain environments. Generally, the history of canids in Poland is similar to that known of Eurasia with some noteworthy events, such as the early occurrence of Canis cf. etruscus from Węże 2 (2.9–2.6 myr ago), Lycaon falconeri from Rębielice Królewskie 1A or one of the latest occurrences of L. lycaonoides from Draby 3 (430–370 kyr). Predominantly lowland or upland in the southern part and devoid of significant ecological barriers, Poland is also an important migration corridor in the East–West system. This 500–600 km wide corridor was the Asian gateway to Europe, from where species of an eastern origin penetrated the continent’s interior. In colder periods, it was in turn a region through which boreal species or those associated with the mammoth steppe retreated.

The rediscovery of old collections and revision of the fossil material from more than 30 Sudeten caves and rock shelters allow reconstructing the faunal changes during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. We found that the composition of mammalian assemblages of Sudety Mts during MIS 3 differed significantly from the Holocene and modern one, and reflected the colder climate. Mammals belonging to the Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex inhabited open flattened lowlands (Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia) surrounding Sudeten area. Several large carnivores (Canis lupus spelaeus, Ursus arctos priscus, Ursus ingressus, Gulo gulo, Mustela eversmanii, Panthera spelaea spelaea, Crocuta crocuta spelaea) as well as herbivores (Mammuthus primigenius, Coleodonta antiquitatis, Megaloceros giganteus, Rangifer tarandus, large form of Equus ferus, Bison priscus, and Ovibos moschatus) made up the core of this assemblage. Our studies showed that most of these faunal elements were also present in Sudety Mts, despite the previous opinion that these mountains formed an effective natural barrier during the Late Pleistocene. Besides, it seems that during cold phases they could be refugees for forest animals, which were also present in the Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex, but lower quantities. They avoided flat treeless Silesian lowlands and concentrated in mountainous and hilly regions. In this context, during the Late Pleistocene Sudety Mts were a “forested island” confined to elevated areas or river valleys. Range extensions, contractions, and continuations on different scales resulted in mammalian paleoassemblages which differed in particular from the modern ones. The analysis of the mammal faunas from Sudeten sites revealed that there were three heterochronous mammalian faunal complexes replaced each other throughout the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Differences between these assemblages resulted from changes in morphology, areas and extinction of several species. The existence of different faunal elements was distinguished by the chronological and geographical change in the structure of mammalian assemblages. At the end of MIS 3 most of the cold-adapted species from the Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex like Ursus ingressus, Panthera spelaea spelaea, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Bison priscus, and Megaloceros giganteus disappeared. During the second phase, at the latest Pleistocene and the Holocene boundary, all the species of the Mammuthus-Coelodonta faunal complex still not became extinct. Several species from this assemblage disappeared later in the Holocene. It should be noted that the role of the human in the changes of faunal complexes and species extinctions during the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene in the Sudety Mts cannot be so far demonstrated.

Dinozaury są najbardziej popularnymi mezozoicznymi kręgowcami lądowymi i grupą wyjściową dla ptaków. Wśród szeregu wyróżniających cech ptaki charakteryzują się wyjątkowym okryciem ciała – piórami. Do tej pory pióra wykazano u kilkudziesięciu gatunków nieptasich dinozaurów należących do grupy teropodów. Struktury homologiczne do piór mogły wykształcić się także u dinozaurów ptasiomiednicznych, a nawet u pterozaurów. Żeby to potwierdzić lub wykluczyć, należy kontynuować badania oraz czekać na dalsze odkrycia.

The Pleistocene history of the leopard (Panthera pardus) in Europe has been documented by the material obtained from 312 localities, with the last dated ∼1.1 Myr. The relatively small and gracile form of the leopard was very rare during the late Early and Middle Pleistocene. Only after the disappearance of the jaguar (Panthera gombaszoegensis) did P. pardus spread widely in Europe, increasing in size and ecologically substituting P. gombaszoegensis. The number of late Middle Pleistocene localities with leopard remains, younger than 300 kyr, increased considerably. The leopard reached the maximum extension of its geographical range in the Late Pleistocene. The Iberian Peninsula was the last European refuge for this cat. Six sites, the Naciekowa, Obok Wschodniej, Radochowska, and Wschodnia Caves from the Sudety Mountains and the Biśnik and Dziadowa Skała Caves from the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland, have documented the presence of the leopard in Poland between MIS 10/9 and MIS 3. These records are from rocky regions with rugged terrain and are located in the territory of Silesia (southern Poland). A newly obtained radiocarbon date (43–42 kyr) from the Radochowska Cave directly confirms the occurrence of P. pardus in the Sudety Mountains in the middle part of MIS 3.

The Middle Pleistocene was a period of dynamic changes in Europe. During MIS 11, a number of modern mammal taxa appeared and environmental conditions remained warm and favourable for a relatively long time. The Medzhybizh 1 locality of Ukraine dated to this very period comprises alluvial deposits with rich animal remains, which allow not only to reconstruct the fauna composition, but also to highlight the environmental conditions that dominated at this locality. A revision of the fauna of Medzhybizh 1 locality based on remains of all vertebrate groups revealed a taxonomically diverse fish community (16 species of 11 genera) dominated by cyprinids common for lacustrine or riverine assemblages. Amphibians are represented by 11 species, while the number of reptile and bird remains are less significant. Mammals are the most represented group at the locality, including small mammals (30 species), carnivorans (2 species), and ungulates (5 taxa), the latter dominated by C. elaphus. The taxonomic composition of terrestrial groups indicates temperate climate with boreal-type forests and meadows similar to cold steppe, as well as low wet areas and riparian habitats inhabited by amphibians, reptiles, insectivores, beavers, and various voles. The fish assemblage indicates a partially overgrown but well-aerated water body (lake or slow-flowing river) with sandy-silty bottom. Lithic artefacts found at the Medzhybizh 1 locality contribute to a better understanding of relationships between ancient hominins and faunas during the Middle Pleistocene of Eastern Europe., Archaeological field works at Medzhybizh were supported by the NASU state research projects 0105U001383 (2005–2009), 0109U008921 (2010–2014) and partly funded by the State Fund of Fundamental Research of Ukraine grant 0118U001457 (F77/50–2018). This research was also supported by the grant 0201/2048/18 ‘Life and death of extinct rhino (Stephanorhinus sp.) from Western Poland: a multi-proxy palaeoenvironmental approach’ financed from the funds of the National Science Centre, Poland. JvdM received support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades (current grant numbers PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and PGC2018-095489-B-I00).

The steppe brown bear U. a. “priscus” is constant but not a common member of the Late Pleistocene paleocommunities. It is not distinct arctoid species, but a large brown bear ecomorph which lived in open environments. Instead to speleoid bears, which disappeared ca. 26-24 ka BP, arctoid bears, thanks to their ecological plasticity, were present in most of the European areas even during the cold phases. The size and diet of these bears were modified under the climate conditions and food availability. U. a. “priscus” cannot be distinguished genetically, but it differs metrically and morphologically. It was a big sized form with enlarged and broad cheek teeth. Late Pleistocene brown bears, especially those lived before the LGM were more carnivorous than the Holocene and recent brown bear. The steppe brown bear survived till the beginning of the Holocene, where the last relict populations lived around the Baltic and the North Sea decreasing in size and merging genetically with widely distributed Eurasian populations of U. a. arctos.

The Pleistocene lion Panthera spelaea was not a homogenous taxon; it was represented by three chronoforms. The oldest one, from the Early and Middle Pleistocene, was P. s. fossilis, the youngest was the Late Pleistocene cave lion P. s. spelaea. The intermediate form between them was P. s. intermedia. The scarcity of stratigraphically old lion made it difficult to understand the evolution of this carnivore. Therefore, we revised the fossil material of the Pleistocene lion from Polish excavation sites. The analysis revealed the presence of P. s. fossilis in 7 sites: Tunel Wielki, Poludniowa, Wschodnia, Draby, Biśnik, Deszczowa and Wierzchowska Gorna caves. The remains from these localities significantly differed in their average size and teeth proportions from the nominate younger chronoform, i.e. the cave lion. Using this material and all other available data, we compared the lion remains grouped into four palaeoclimate periods: MIS 17-12, MIS 11-9, MIS 8-6 and MIS 5-2. We found significant time-related trends in many morphometric features of dentition and limb bones. Between the first two periods, the lion became larger but from MIS 8, it gradually decreased in size. The teeth showed a much greater rate of changes than the metapodial bones, which in turn were characterised by more heterogeneous and mosaic evolution. The changes observed in the fossil material can result from in situ evolution of lion populations occupying Europe or immigration and replacement of the native forms by those from other regions, for example Asia.