The Fishhook Mammoth: Rediscovery of a Woolly Mammoth Carcass by the CERPOLEX/Mammuthus Team, Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia

The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

The Fishhook Mammoth: rediscovery of a Woolly Mammoth carcass by the CERPOLEX/Mammuthus Team, Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia

D. Mol1, A.N. Tikhonov2, R.D.E. MacPhee3, C. Flemming3, B. Buigues4, C. de Marliave4, Y. Coppens5, L.D. Agenbroad6 1CERPOLEX/Mammuthus, Hoofddorp, The Netherlands [email protected] 2Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Mammals, Universitetskaya nab. 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia - [email protected] 3Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA [email protected], [email protected] 4CERPOLEX/Mammuthus, Saint Mandé, France [email protected], [email protected] 5Collège de France, Paris, France [email protected] 6Northern Arizona University, Geology Department, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA [email protected]

SUMMARY: The Fishhook or Hook Mammoth is a 20,620 +/- 70 BP old woolly mammoth carcass. It was discovered in the estuary of the Upper Taimyra River, Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, in 1990 and some parts of the carcass were removed in 1990 and 1992. After the site had been flooded for 8 years, it was rediscovered in 2000. In May 2001 the remains were excavated as a part of the CERPOLEX/Mammuthus program "Who or What Killed the Mammoths". The remaining parts of the carcass, including soft tissue, fur and underfur were exctracted from the frozen ground together with the surrounding sediments to learn more about the environment and the time of death of the Fishhook Mammoth.

1. FACTS River, Western Lake Taimyr, Central Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia, Russia. The Upper Taimyra Species: Mammuthus primigenius (Blumen- River ends in the Gulf of Baikura Turku. bach, 1799); woolly mammoth. Coordinates: 74°08’48’’ N; 99°35’28’’ E. Year of Discovery: 1990, by Mr. Alexander Stolyarow, Resident, Khatanga. Radiocarbon Date: 14C accelerator mass spec- trometry date = 20,620 +/- 70 BP Year of Rediscovery: 2000, by Mr. Sergei Pankevitch, Subdirector, Taimyr Nature Reserve; Gender: Male, based on (1) large cranium, Brigade Member, CERPOLEX/Mammuthus (2) diameter of the tusks, and (3) size of known Expedition 2000. post-cranial skeletal elements. The cranium of the Fishhook Mammoth is extremely big, indi- Location: Estuary of the Upper Taimyra cating an old male individual. 310 The Fishhook Mammoth...

Size of the Fishhook Mammoth: Comparison Japanese team “excavated” the carcass became of skeletal elements with other specimens of a scandal in academic circles in Russia. After Mammuthus primigenius show that the viewing the Japanese film, the internationally Fishhook Mammoth stood about 260 cm at the renowned mammoth expert Dr. Nikolai shoulder. Vereshchagin (ZIRAS) wrote an article that expressed his horror. This article was pub- 2. HISTORY OF THE FISHHOOK MAMMOTH lished in the major Russian newspaper Izvestie.

In 1990, Mr. Alexander Stolyarow, a citizen 3. REDISCOVERY OF THE MAMMOTH CARCASS of Khatanga, Taimyr Peninsula, discovered a nearly complete carcass of a woolly mammoth, In August, 2000, Mr. Sergei Pankevitch Mammuthus primigenius, in the delta of the worked for CERPOLEX/Mammuthus. He Upper Taimyra River, near Lake Taimyr. sought the mammoth carcass remains where Stolyarow removed the two wonderfully pre- they were first discovered in 1990. Because the served tusks and, allegedly, sold them to some- area was flooded, Pankevitch searched with his one in Krasnojarsk. fishing equipment: he was successful! On his In 1992, a Japanese team (sponsored by fishhook, Pankevitch caught a muddy strand of Mitsubishi) visited Khatanga by invitation of mammoth hair. On August 27, the remains Dr. Yuri Karbainov, Director of the Taimyr which he collected during his excursion were Nature Reserve. This team arrived in autumn identified by Dick Mol. Ross MacPhee named when the carcass and surroundings were com- this carcass the “Fishhook Mammoth.” This pletely covered with snow. was soon shortened to the “Hook Mammoth.” The Japanese team visited the carcass site by Small drilled samples of the long bones helicopter and began to uncover parts of the of Fishhook were taken by MacPhee and frozen carcass. Although the specimen and the Flemming (AMNH) for DNA research and ground were frozen, they uncovered the skull, radiocarbon dating. The 14C-AMS date (Beta vertebrae, ribs, and part of a scapula. Their Analytic, FL; November 2000) for the finds also included a lot of mammal hair, skin, Fishhook Mammoth = 20,620 +/- 70 BP. and muscle. Later in the week, the Japanese returned to 4. CATALOGUE OF KNOWN PARTS OF THE the site with a “steam machine” to thaw the FISHHOOK MAMMOTH mammoth. Much of the carcass remained frozen in the ground, but the team removed the Museum of the Nature Reserve at Khatanga cranium, a humerus, a partial ulna, and a com- (Taimyr Peninsula, Russia) plete ulna. The team brought much of the meat • Ulna (left), complete (both epiphyses and skin of this specimen to Japan, and left the fused); maximum length = 79 cm. (Bored sam- bones at the museum of the Nature Reserve ples taken by MacPhee and Flemming, in Khatanga. Still, a lot of material, including AMNH). some skin and muscle, was left in the per- • Humerus (right), complete (both epiphyses mafrost at the carcass site. fused); maximum length = 89 cm. (Bored sam- When the Japanese team returned to the site ples taken by MacPhee and Flemming, the following year (1993), the entire site had AMNH). been – and remained – flooded naturally by the • Cranium, high-domed and heavily dam- river. This expedition included staff members aged (lacks tusks and molars); broken maxil- of the Zoological Museum in St. Petersburg, lae demonstrate that both M3s were broken including Dr. Mikhail V. Sablin. All activities out after specimen was unearthed. Molar alve- of the team were filmed and later shown on oli indicate that small molar remains (M3) Japanese television. were present on both sides, indicating that the The careless and brutal way in which the mammoth was a very old individual, older 311 The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome 2001

than 55 African Elephant Years (AEY). Both 5. THE CERPOLEX/MAMMUTHUS EXPEDITION, M2s were lost long before to the animal’s OCTOBER 2000 death. Maximum diameter of tusk alveoli = 14 cm; maximum width of cranium at eye sock- In October 2000, a small expedition led by ets = 73 cm (top) and 65 cm (bottom); maxi- Bernard Buigues (CERPOLEX/Mammuthus) mum width of posterior cranium = 73 cm. All set out to study the Fishhook Mammoth. When collected skeletal remains of the Fishhook this expedition arrived at the site, all was frozen mammoth indicate that it is a very old individ- and partly snow-covered. But, because the ual. water level had been extremely low the previ- ous summer (when Pankevitch rediscovered the Collection of N. Maliguina (Mammalogist, carcass), it was relatively easy for the expedi- Nature Reserve, Khatanga) tion to locate the Fishhook Mammoth. Parts of • Hair, long guard hairs (multicolored) it were exposed at the surface: a portion of the vertebral column (lumbar vertebrae in anatom- Collection F. Kozlov (Geologist, Khatanga) ical position), parts of the pelvic bones, mus- • Hair (quantity unknown) cles, and an abundance of hair. An expedition was planned for spring (May) Collection of CERPOLEX/Mammuthus L. 2001 by CERPOLEX/Mammuthus to extract Agenbroad (Paleontologist, NAU and Program the remains of the Fishhook Mammoth, using Coordinator, CERPOLEX/Mammuthus) the same method as in the case of the Jarkov • Hair, long guard hairs (brown color) Mammoth.

Collection of CERPOLEX/Mammuthus D. 6. THE CERPOLEX/MAMMUTHUS EXPEDITION, Mol (Program Coordinator, CERPOLEX/ Mam- MAY 2001 muthus) When the CERPOLEX/Mammuthus team • Hair, long guard hairs (brown color) reached the site in May 2001, the river bank • Hair, long guard hairs (yellow color) was covered with more than 200 cm of frozen • Ulna, right proximal part with muscle snow which needed to be removed. After the attached to proximal epiphysis site had been cleaned, approximately 75 m2,it • Vertebra, thoracic became clear that some of the parts of the carcass had detoriated and were scattered by the Collection of CERPOLEX/Mammuthus water. Nevertheless, we excavated many skele- (courtesy, S. Pankevitch, Khatanga) tal parts, some of which were still in anatomi- • Vertebra, thoracic, with cartilage (in care of cal order (vertebrae and ribs). The isolated Dr. MacPhee, AMNH) parts were taken out by using jackhammers. • Muscle, small strip (in care of Dr. One block of frozen sediments, including 6 ver- Tikhonov, ZIRAS) tebrae thoracales and 2 vertebrae lumbales (the last v. thoracalis is in anatomical order with the Additional mammal remains collected near first v. lumbalis), several ribs, soft tissue, fur the woolly mammoth by Mr. Pankevitch and underfur, was extracted and transported to include: an ice cave in Khatanga where it will be defrosted under controlled conditions. Equus caballus (wild horse); 12 specimens Ovibos moschatus (ice-age woolly musk 7. INVENTORY OF THE REMAINS COLLECTED BY ox); 1 specimen THE CERPOLEX/MAMMUTHUS EXPEDITION, Rangifer tarandus (reindeer); 8 specimens MAY 2001 Mammuthus primigenius (woolly mammoth); 45 specimens • Two fragments of the tusk socket (alveolus sin.) fitting to the cranium in the collection 312 The Fishhook Mammoth... of the Museum of the Nature Reserve at (which possible indicates a male individual). Khatanga, Taimyr, Russia. • Lunatum sin., complete (relatively small). • Pelvic fragment including the complete • 10 ribs of both sides of the animal, 6 of acetabulum (sin.) which are complete and 3 of which show patho- • Pelvic fragment including the complete logical characteristics. acetabulum (dext.) • Fragments of thoracic vertebrae (vertebral • Proximal half of the femur sin. (max. width bodies and spines). at the proximal end is 34 cm. The caput femoris • One block with several parts of the is completely fused with the diaphysis, which Fishhook Mammoth, amongst others: 6 verte- indicates a very old individual). The impression brae thoracales and 2 vertebrae lumbales (the is that the complete femur was rather small. last vertebra thoracalis is in anatomical order • Complete tibia sin. (max. length 60 cm, with the first vertebra lumbalis), several ribs, epiphyses are fused). some of which are entirely complete. The ver- • Complete fibula sin. (max. length 56 cm, tebrae and the ribs show soft tissues as tendons epiphyses are fused). This fibula is extremely and muscles. The block is 135 cm long, 110 cm heavily built (which possibly indicates a male wide and 40 cm thick. Its weight is approxi- individual). mately 1000 kg. It was extracted from the per- • Damaged fibula dext. (damage is mainly on mafrost on May 8, at 08.00 h. the proximal part, the distal epiphysis is fused • The Fishhook Mammoth block was placed with the diaphysis). in an ice cave in Khatanga on Saturday May • Astragalus sin., complete. 12th, 2001. In this ice cave also the Jarkov • Cuneiforme II sin., complete. Mammoth block is stored. • Phalanx II (not the terminal phalanx), complete 8. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FISHHOOK • Scapula dext., complete (max. height 82 cm). MAMMOTH • Scapula sin., damaged; max. height is pre- served (82 cm). A male individual (bull), more than 55 years • Radius dexter, in two parts (broken) (no old at the time of the death of this animal 20620 measurements taken because of sediments years ago. Its height was about 260 cm at the attached to the surface of the fracture). The epi- shoulder (highest point of the back-bone) and it physes are fused, again indicating an very old had an extremely large cranium (typical for an individual. This radius is extremely heavily built old male individual).

313