The article provides information on the dynamics of the small mammal fauna and vegetation of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition in the Northern Urals on the basis of palaeontological studies of the sediments of the Anyuskaya cave. Three layers were identified in the section of the loose sediments of the cave, two of them contained the skeletal remains of vertebrates. The faunal assemblage of layer III is indicative of the composition and ecological structure of the Late Glacial microteriofauna, while the faunal remains of layer II are attributed to the Early Holocene. During the transition from the Late Glacial to the Early Holocene, the area around the cave was dominated by thickets of squat birch, alternating with birch woods, sometimes swampy, and small meadows. The small mammal community of this interval was dominated by tundra and tundra-steppe species, accounting for more than 45% of all remains, and the steppe pica was a common species. In the Early Holocene, as a consequence of climate warming, the dominant species in the small mammal community changed from tundra to forest. The steppe pica disappeared from the microteriofauna, while the proportion of the narrow-headed vole remained constant. The vegetation was characterised by herbaceous thickets and birch forests with a minor presence of pine.
Kryazheva et al. (Wed,) studied this question.