Landscapes of the ‘Yuka’ mammoth habitat: A palaeobotanical approach

•Yuka mammoth lived during the optimum of the Kargin Interstadial (MIS3)•Burial place of the mammoth could have been a small shallow freshwater pond•The vegetation of the Oyogos Yar in MIS3 optimum was represented by zonal tundra-steppe combined with mesic-xeric meadows.

In August 2010, a well-preserved Mammuthus primigenius carcass was found along the coast of Oyogos Yar in the region of the Laptev Sea and the mummy was nicknamed ‘Yuka’. Frozen sediment samples from the area of skull condyles were collected for pollen and plant macrofossil analyses. The results from the palaeobotanical investigation confirmed that the Yuka mammoth lived during the optimum of the Kargin Interstadial (MIS3). The burial place of the mammoth could have been a small shallow freshwater pond with either stagnant or slowly moving water. The vegetation of the Oyogos Yar in MIS3 optimum was probably represented by zonal tundra-steppe combined with mesic-xeric meadows.