摘要
一个利用放射性测定哺乳动物骨骼年代的数据库使我们有可能构造一个年代分布直方图(以1000年为间隔),这个直方图包含了262个属于亚洲极地区域猛犸象动物区系的各种动物的年代测定。年代的分布显示出在距今5万年这段时间内大陆和岛屿的生物栖息地发生了位移。直到全新世开始时猛犸象动物区系仍均匀地覆盖着整个亚洲北部地区。而后猛犸象动物区系移至边缘区域,它的一些成分开始表现出某些数量上的波动。要进一步估计这些变化的原因需要另外的研究和更多的放射性碳测定数据,但与气候变暖和海平面上升相关的环境改变似乎是隐藏在猛犸象动物区系消逝背后的主要原因。
A vast collection of mammal-bone radiocarbon data makes possible the construction of histograms (at 1000-year intervals) based on 262 dates for various animals belonging to the 'mammoth fauna' of the Asiatic polar region. The date distribution indicates a shift in biological habitats during the last 50 ka (50 000 yrs) in the continental and island areas. Mammoth fauna was uniformly distributed over the whole territory of northern Asia until the beginning of the Holocene. Later, mammoth fauna moved into marginal areas and its components then began to show some quantitative oscillations. Further evaluations of the variations that occurred require additional research and more radiocarbon data. However, environmental changes related to climatic warming and sea-level rise seem to be the main reasons behind the disappearance of the mammoth fauna.
