Equus lenensis
| Equus lenensis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Equidae |
| Genus: | Equus |
| Species: | †E. lenensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| †Equus lenensis Russanov, 1968[1]
| |
Equus lenensis, the Lena horse, is an extinct species of horse from the Late Pleistocene and Holocene of Siberia. Some sources have considered it a subspecies of the wild horse.[2]
Discovery and history
[edit]A notable 'Lena horse' specimen was found in Batagaika crater in Yakutia, Siberia[3] which was preserved almost completely intact, and with liquid blood within its preserved veins.[3] The specimen was hypothesized to be about two months old when it died and was uncovered nearly 40,000 years later by scientists in 2018 because of the melting permafrost caused by rising temperatures in the region.[4]
Another specimen from the mid-Holocene called the Yukagir horse was found in another thawing deposit in, also in Yakutia (now the Sakha Republic).[5]
Description
[edit]Remains attributed to the species display a considerable range of morphological variability.[6] Those from northern Siberia are characterized by their small average size, Equus lenensis lived in cold steppe-tundra environments in Siberia. Dental mesowear analysis suggests they primarily ate primarily grass, but also consumed other vegetation like browse and/or non woody herbaceous plants to some degree.[7]
Taxonomy
[edit]Genetic studies show that E. lenensis does not descend from the last common ancestor of living horses, and is estimated to have diverged from them approximately 115,000 years ago, being one of the most divergent known Eurasian horse lineages alongside prehistoric horses known from the Iberian Peninsula. The youngest remains of the species date to 5,000 years Before Present (~3000 BC).[8] E. lenensis may have received gene flow from now extinct ghost populations of horses, which may at least partially explain its genetic distinctiveness from other wild horses.[8][9]
References
[edit]- ^ Spasskaya, N.N.; Pavlinov, I.Ya.; Sharko, F.S.; Boulygina, E.S.; Tsygankova, S.V.; Nedoluzhko, A.V.; et al. (28 May 2021). "Morphometric and genetic analyses of diversity of the Lena horse (Equus lenensis Russanov, 1968; Mammalia: Equidae)". Russian Journal of Theriology. 20 (1). KMK Scientific Press: 82–95. doi:10.15298/rusjtheriol.20.1.09. ISSN 1682-3559. S2CID 236411693.
- ^ Kuzmin, Yaroslav V; Kosintsev, Pavel A; Stepanov, Aleksandr D; Boeskorov, Gennady G; Cruz, Richard J (April 2017). "Chronology and Faunal Remains of the Khayrgas Cave (Eastern Siberia, Russia)". Radiocarbon. 59 (2): 575–582. Bibcode:2017Radcb..59..575K. doi:10.1017/RDC.2016.39. ISSN 0033-8222.
- ^ a b Mindy Weisberger (2018-08-24). "Siberian Permafrost Reveals Perfectly Preserved Ice-Age Baby Horse". livescience.com. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
- ^ Katz, Brigit (28 August 2018). "Extinct baby horse – its skin and hair intact – found in the Siberian permafrost". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2024-08-04.
- ^ Boeskorov, Gennady G.; Potapova, Olga R.; Protopopov, Albert V.; Plotnikov, Valery V.; Maschenko, Eugeny N.; Shchelchkova, Marina V.; et al. (July 2018). "A study of a frozen mummy of a wild horse from the Holocene of Yakutia, east Siberia, Russia". Mammal Research. 63 (3): 307–314. doi:10.1007/s13364-018-0362-4. ISSN 2199-241X.
- ^ Spasskaya, N.N.; Pavlinov, I.Ya.; Sharko, F.S.; Boulygina, E.S.; Tsygankova, S.V.; Nedoluzhko, A.V.; Boeskorov, G.G.; Mashchenko, E.N. (2021-05-28). "Morphometric and genetic analyses of diversity of the Lena horse (Equus lenensis Russanov, 1968; Mammalia: Equidae)" (PDF). Russian Journal of Theriology. 20 (1): 82–95. doi:10.15298/rusjtheriol.20.1.09. ISSN 1682-3559.
- ^ Cirilli, Omar; Machado, Helena; Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin; Barrón-Ortiz, Christina I.; Davis, Edward; Jass, Christopher N.; Jukar, Advait M.; Landry, Zoe; Marín-Leyva, Alejandro H.; Pandolfi, Luca; Pushkina, Diana; Rook, Lorenzo; Saarinen, Juha; Scott, Eric; Semprebon, Gina (September 2022). "Evolution of the Family Equidae, Subfamily Equinae, in North, Central and South America, Eurasia and Africa during the Plio-Pleistocene". Biology. 11 (9): 1258. doi:10.3390/biology11091258. ISSN 2079-7737. PMC 9495906. PMID 36138737.
- ^ a b Fages, Antoine; Hanghøj, Kristian; Khan, Naveed; Gaunitz, Charleen; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Leonardi, Michela; McCrory Constantz, Christian; Gamba, Cristina; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A.S.; Albizuri, Silvia; Alfarhan, Ahmed H.; Allentoft, Morten; Alquraishi, Saleh; Anthony, David; Baimukhanov, Nurbol (May 2019). "Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series". Cell. 177 (6): 1419–1435.e31. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2019.03.049. PMC 6547883. PMID 31056281.
- ^ Librado, Pablo; Khan, Naveed; Fages, Antoine; Kusliy, Mariya A.; Suchan, Tomasz; Tonasso-Calvière, Laure; Schiavinato, Stéphanie; Alioglu, Duha; Fromentier, Aurore; Perdereau, Aude; Aury, Jean-Marc; Gaunitz, Charleen; Chauvey, Lorelei; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Der Sarkissian, Clio (October 2021). "The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes". Nature. 598 (7882): 634–640. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04018-9. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8550961. PMID 34671162.