History of the Taurida cave, a monument of the late Villafranchian invertebrate fauna, and its paleontological significance

The horizontal Tavrida Cave (Zuya settlement, Crimea), discovered in June 2018 during the construction of the highway, is a unique paleontological monument. The stages of the cave formation and its taphocenoses have been studied. The study was carried out using geomorphologic, stratigraphic, geological, structural and paleontological methods.

The zoogenic complex of vertebrate fossils from the cave sediments corresponds to the Late Villafrancian fauna of the Eastern Mediterranean (MNQ18–MNQ19), namely the Psekup faunal complex (1,8–1,5 Ma). The faunal complex includes Hystrix vinogradovi, Hystrix refossa, Pachycrocuta brevirostris, Canis sp., Homotherium crenatidens, Megantereon sp., Ursus etruscus, Archidiskodon sp., Equus sp., Elasmotherium caucasicum, Stephanorcus sp., Bison sp., Gazellospira torticornis, Arvernoceros verestchagini, Pontoceros sp., Hypolagus brachignatus, and Pachiostrutio dmanisensis.

The initial, corrosion-erosion stage of the cave formation dates back to the Early Pliocene, the Cimmerian time of hot and humid tropical climate. An under-watercourse canal was isolated within the Pliocene epiplatform system of surface runoff in low-lying conditions up to 50 m a. s. l. Eocene limestones were drained along cracks and cavernous strata along the contact with the Barremian sandstones by phreatic canal, subsequently forming large galleries with free-flowing waters. A distinctive feature of the cave is the erosional multilevel meander structure of the canal, with levels of initial and final meandering.

The accumulative stage of development covers the time interval from the Eopleistocene to the Neopleistocene. The drained relict cave was opened by a lateral valley and was filled with subaerial allochthonous products of terra rossa hypergenesis and limestone weathering, corresponding to savannahtype environments. At this stage, a large colony of Chiroptera lived in the cave, and a zoogenic taphocenosis of the Late Villafrancian fauna was formed. Seven main stages of sedimentation have been identified, as well as the out-of-stage seismic generations.

The conservation stage of development, with the entrance backfilling, is thought to start in the Cromer (0,5–0,7 Ma). Under temperate climate the desquamation products and gray humous loams completely blocked the entrance to the cave. Dense backfilling of all karst canals put the end to air exchange between the cavity and the outside surface atmosphere.

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