Hallesches Jahrbuch für Geowissenschaften, Beiheft 46 (2019) 79 The Temijbek ichnological site from the Early Pleistocene of the Caucasus foreland (Russia): Taphonomy and identifcation of fossil burrows DMITRI PONOMARENKO Mammals Lab, Borissiak Palaeontological Institute, Moscow, Russia d.ponomarenko@paleo.ru Keywords: fossil burrows, rodents, ichnotaphonomy, diagnostic features, preservation Introduction Although fossil burrows have long been known to occur in the Pleistocene paleosols of the steppes of Eastern Europe, they have received only a cursory mention in geological descriptions. No ichno- logical sites with fossil burrows have previously been described here. In this paper, we give the frst description of a fossil burrow ichnoassemblage from this region. The young age of the locality pres- ents an opportunity to identify burrows by reference to burrows of extant species of the same gen- era (PONOMARENKO & PONOMARENKO 2018). Additionally, the study of preservational features and forms of burrows is instructive for the interpretation of older fossil burrow localities. Geological Location The Temijbek fossil locality occurs within the Early to Late Pleistocene section exposed in the Kuban River bend of the Caucasus foreland (DODONOV et al. 2006). The lower half of the section consists of alluvial deposits and hydromorphic paleosols which have been dated from scarce small mammal fossils (Clethrionomys cf. kretzoii, Mimomys reidi, and Mimomys sp.) to the Gelasian ( TESAKOV 2010). In addition to skeletal fossils, which occur in the lower, alluvial deposits, the section contains paleosols with ichnofossils, called “calcifed krotovinas” by DODONOV et al. (2006), but previously undescribed. Fossil burrows occur in two carbonate paleosols in the middle of the section, intercalated between colluvial deposits, at the transition from hydromorphic to automorphic soils. These paleosols have a reverse magnetic signature (Matuyama) and are dated to the late Calabrian (ca. 1 Ma). Overlying the middle part of the section are Upper Pleistocene loessic deposits with paleosols without calcifed fossil burrows. Another paleosol with carbonate fossil burrows was found during our feldwork in 2017 within a previously undescribed outcrop 2 km upstream of the described locality. The exact stratigraphic cor- relation of this outcrop with the dated section is yet unclear. A colluvial sedimentology including carbonate paleosols point to a Calabrian age coeval with the dated burrow-bearing paleosols. Materials and Methods 32 fossil tunnel casts were documented in the feld, 12 tunnel casts were collected for further study. In describing and identifying the fossil burrows we made use of the reference collection of mammal burrow casts at the Borissiak Paleontological Institute and our descriptions of subrecent burrows ob- served in archaeological, geological, and soil sections. The taxonomically diagnostic features identi- fed from these two sources have been described in another paper (PONOMARENKO & PONOMARENKO 2018). The reference collection includes burrows of the following mammal taxa: Insectivora: Talpidae (Talpa europea, Parascalops breweri), Rodentia: Spalacidae (Myospalax myospalax, Spalax microphthalmos), Sciuridae (Marmota monax, Tamias striatus, Spermophilus fulvus, S. major), Cricetidae (Ellobius talpi- nus, Cricetus raddei, C. cricetus).