In memory of Russian paleontologist N.K. Vereschagin (1908-2008)

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© RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF THERIOLOGY, 2009
Russian J. Theriol. 8(2): 117122
Professor Dr. Nikolai Kuzmich Vereschagin, a prom-
inent Russian paleontologist, nationally and interna-
tionally known as The Mammoth Expert tragically
died on October 27, 2008 in St. Petersburg, Russia,
where he lived and worked since 1949. Dr. Verescha-
gin was 99 years old, three weeks short of his 100th
birthday.
Nikolai K. Vereschagin, the grandchild of Nikolai
Vasilievich Vereschagin, the most influential dairy ex-
pert and businessman in Russia in the 19th century, and
the third cousin of the prominent Russian battle artist
Vasilii V. Vereschagin, was born on November 21,
1908 in the small village Pertovka of the Vologda
District. Interestingly, this area in the Cherepovets vi-
cinity became very well known due to discovery of the
Zhidikovo Peat bog, Sheksna River Mouth, and the
Yagorba River Mouth sites that yielded the geologi-
cally late (and latest) mammoth remains in European
Russia; the mammoth remains studies from the latter
involved Dr. Vereschagins consultation.
Animals and their biology fascinated young Ni-
kolai. Soon after graduation from the Moscow Zootech-
nical Institute in 1929, Nikolai was employed by the
Zhitkov Research Institute for Game and Furbearer
Propagation in 19301934. Under its roof, he directed
introductions of muskrat in the Irtysh River basin, one
of the first introductions of the species in the USSR. In
19351940, Nikolai Vereschagin worked for the Zoo-
logical Institute, Azerbaijan SSR Academy of Sciences
in Baku, Azerbaijan Republic, where in 1939 he de-
fended his PhD dissertation devoted to nutria biology
and acclimatization. Employment in the Baku Zoologi-
cal Institute allowed Dr. Vereschagin to start collecting
material on modern and fossil mammals of the Apsher-
on Peninsula and game mammals of the Caucasus Moun-
tains. This material became the theme of his Doctor of
Science dissertation that he defended in 1954 in the
Zoological Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences, St.
Petersburg, where he worked from 1949 until his retire-
ment in 1995. The dissertation material eventually be-
came a foundation of The Mammals of the Caucasus:
A History of the Evolution of the Fauna book that was
published in 1959. The richly illustrated book com-
prised the profound analyses of personally collected
data and the material on the regions geology and pale-
ontology accumulated during several hundreds of years,
and outlined the origin, diversification, and evolution
In memoriam
In memory of Russian paleontologist
Nikolai Kuzmich Vereschagin (19082008)
Olga R. Potapova & Road L. Potapov
Olga R. Potapova [olgapot@mammothsite.org], The Hot Springs Mammoth Site, Inc. PO Box 692, 1800 HWY 18
Bypass, Hot Springs, SD 57747, USA; Roald L. Potapov [museum@zin.ru], Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of
Sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1., Saint Petersburg, 199034, Russia.
of mammals inhabiting the Caucasus Mountains and
adjacent areas. The book was translated to English in
1967 and due to its encyclopedic and analytic character
instantly became an international scientific bestseller
and the must have monograph for paleontologists
from all over the world. Dr. Nikolai Vereschagin suc-
cessfully directed the Laboratory of Mammals from
1968 through 1974, and was the head of the Faunas
History Department from 1974 to 1995.
Dr. Vereschagins late 1940s and 1950s were filled
by numerous field seasons and trips to different part of
the USSR, followed by lab work, material analyses and
publication of variety of papers devoted to the Pleis-
tocene fauna and mammals of southern Russian Plain,
Crimea, Caucasus, the lower Ural River region, Siberia,
Kazakhstan and Transbailkalia. His papers covered a
wide range of paleontological topics, from extensive
overviews and analyses of the faunistic complexes to
single faunal elements important for local faunas in the
former USSR.
During the 1960s, Dr. Vereschagin studied system-
atic and taxonomic positions of modern and extinct cats
and bears. At the same time he was involved in exten-
sive paleontological work and expeditions to archeo-
logical sites being excavated in the Ural Mountains,
Western Siberia and Far East (Russian Primorie). Lat-
er, this enriched field experience and his hunting expe-
rience along with his personal observations of animal
behavior allowed Dr. Vereschagin to suggest methods
practiced for big game procurement by the Paleolithic
hunters.
Hunting was one of the main passions of Dr. Vere-
schagin through all his life. His curiosity and interest in
archeology and particularly to remains of animal hunt-
ed by man from Paleolithic sites, and history of human
hunting was always in scope of his paleontological and
archeozoological research. His enthusiasm in this area
didnt have boundaries. Once, according to recollec-
tions of the senior author, Dr. Vereschagin demonstrat-
ed the Paleolithic spear at a professional archeologi-
cal meeting in the Archeological Institute, St. Peters-
burg. This broke order making the unprepared audience
overly excited. He had manufactured the shaft himself,
but the Paleolithic spear point attached to it was origi-
nal, and the tool was very functional and impressive.
Dr. Vereschagin was also very interested in biology
of game birds, and particularly, grouse. Dr. Verescha-

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In memoriam
gin often liked to talk about peculiarities of behavior
and biology of the large grouse species, both in his
office and during team hunting big game. When he
killed hybrid of capercaillie and black grouse, which
was thoroughly prepared for collection storage, it be-
came a subject of joint study, specimen description, and
resulted in a co-authored publication.
In the 1970s, Dr. Vereschagin headed paleontolog-
ical expeditions to the (later) well-known Berelekh
Mammoth Boneyard site on the Berelekh River in
Yakutia Republic. There, he and his colleagues
collectedmore than8,000 bones, belonging to at least
140 woolly mammoths, from sand lenses formed by the
River. Most of the collection was brought to the Zoo-
logical Institute in St. Petersburg, and became the basis
of numerous publications and the Siberian mammoth
site reference. This rescue expedition was performed
just in time; within a few seasons the site was complete-
ly washed out by the river. Even now, this rich mam-
moth collection from the Berelekh attracts the scientists
from all over the world.
Figure 1. Nikolai Vereschagin is identifying fossils found by
the Third International Mammoth Conference participants
during field trip near Dawson, Yukon, Canada. May 2003.
Photo by O. Potapova.
Figure 2. Dr. Roald Potapov and Dr. Nikolai Vereschagin in the Zoological Institute, St. Petersburg. April 1982. From archive
of R. Potapov.

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In memoriam
Figure 3. The pin fabricated for the Russian-Ukrainian-
American Conference on study of the Quaternary Fauna
(Springfield, IL). On the sketch: Lagopus lagopus, Lepus
tanaiticus, Mammuthus primigenius, and Ochotona sp. Sketch
drawn by Dr. N. Vereschagin. October 1992. Photo by O.
Potapova.
Figure 4. From the left: Dr. Bruce McMillan (Director,
Illinois State Museum, Springfiels, IL), Dr. Nikolai Vere-
schagin, and Virginia McMillan. Springfield, Illinois, Octo-
ber 1992. Photo by M. Roos.
In early 1970s Dr. Vereschagins vision of future
paleontological studies on vast territories of the USSR
(especially in the north), excellent organization skills
and scientific determination led him to revitalize the
Scientific Mammoth Committee of the USSR (original-
ly formed in 1948), which he headed from 1972 to
1995. After seven workshops on studies of mammoth
and mammoth fauna, organized by the Committee un-
der his strong leadership and charisma, the Commit-
tees activity went on to the international level in 1995
organizing the 1st International Mammoth Conference
(IMC). It took place in St. Petersburg attracting scien-
tists from America, Europe and Asia. Since 1995 there
have been three following International Mammoth Con-
ferences hosted by the Natural History Museum in
Rotterdam (the Netherlands) in 1999, Department of
Tourism and Culture in Dawson (Yukon, Canada) in
2003, and Government of the Republic of Sakha, Insti-
tute of the Applied Ecology of the North Academy of
Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), and Mam-
moth Museum in Yakutsk (Yakutia, Russia) in 2007,
bringing together over 100 mammoth scientists from all
over the world. Dr. Vereschagin attended all but the
4thIMC in 2007, having been the Honorary Chair at all
of them, and consistently drawing special attention to
his presentations. Now, the 5
th
International Mammoth
Conference, renamed in 2007 as the The World of
Mammoths: 5
th
International Conference on Mammoths
and Their Relatives from the Pliocene to Present-Day:
Biotopes, Evolution, and Human Impact, after being
combined with the International Congress World of
Elephants, will be hosted by the Department de Haute-
Loireand the city of Le Puy-en-Velay, France, in Au-
gust - September 2010. Dr. Vereschagin will be missed
there, and his absence will be noticeable.
From the 1970 to 1990 Dr. Vereschagin consulted
preparing and assembling the traveling exhibitions of
mammoth and mammoth fauna abroad, organized by
the Zoological Institute and the Zoological Museum.
He didnt have a chance attending the exhibit opening
ceremonies, or supervising any of those hosted in Ja-
pan, USA, Italy, and other countries.
In the 1970s through the 1980s Dr. Vereschagin
concentrated on research focused on evolution of the
Pleistocene fauna in the Palearctic. He analyzed the
extensive collections of mammoth bones and tusks,

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In memoriam
Figure 5. From the left: Eddy Clay, Dr. N. Vereschagin, Dr. Larry Agenbroad (The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD), and
Clara Clay. 3rd International mammoth Conference field trip, Yukon, Canada, May 2003. Photo by O. Potapova.
studied the morphology and ecology of the extinct
Pleistocene horse (Equus), steppe bison (Bison priscus),
and cave lion (Pantera spelaea), and published several
papers on Pleistocene megafauna extinctions. As he
explained, these resulted from the combined effects of
global climate change, local biological/ecological fac-
tors affecting species, and hunting pressure of the Pale-
olithic man.
Dr. Vereschagin made substantial contributionsto
science studying skeletons and carcasses of adult and
baby mammoths found in Russia. After the sensational
discovery of baby mammoth Dima in Eastern Siberia
by a local gold-mine worker in 1977, Dr. Vereschagin
organized and led a team of international researchers
studying the unique specimen, publishing a series of
papers followed by the book The Magadan Mammoth
Calf (in Russian). He also participated in excavations
and studies of the Siberian Khatanga (1977) and Yuribei
(1979) mammoths, and consulted other researchers on
the frozen carcasses of the Jarkov (1997) and Yukagir
(2002) mammoths found on Taimyr Peninsula and in
Yakutia. Dr. Vereschagin was involved in studying the
mummified body of the baby mammoth Masha (1999)
and was consulting the international team of research-
ers formed for systematic studies of the most complete
baby mammoth ever found, Lyuba (2007); both fe-
males from the northern Western Siberia. Dr. Nikolai
Vereschagin traveled, lectured and participated in many
scientific conferences in the former USSR and Russia,
and only few scientific conferences abroad, including
France, Yugoslavia, Japan, and USA. Being a USSR
citizen with uncompromising character and apolitical

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In memoriam
Figure 6. From the left: Dr. Valentina Ukraintseva, Bob Hodorff (Hot Springs, SD), Dr. Nikolai Vereschagin shooting target
with a compound bow, Dr. Tatyana Vereschagina, and Malon Anderson (Hot Springs, SD). Hot Springs, South Dakota,
September 1998. Archives of the Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD.
views, it was extremely hard for Dr. Vereschagin to get
permission from government run agencies to travel
abroad, especially overseas. His few trips abroad are
worth mentioning. In September 1989 Dr. Vereschagin
was invited as honorable guest to participate in the
Megafauna and Man Symposium hosted by the Mam-
moth Site in Hot Springs, South Dakota, USA, a unique
mammoth bonebed in North America. It was the first
opportunity for Dr. Vereschagin, the seasoned Siberian
mammoth boneyard researcher, and the Ukrainian mam-
moth bone huts consultant, to have a look at the famous
Mammoth Site sinkhole trap preserving the in-situ
remains of 44 (now, in April 2010 the count is 58)
mammoths.
In 1992 Dr. Vereschagin was invited to be a sympo-
sium chair and present a paper at the Russian-Ukraini-
an-American Conference on the study of Quaternary
Fauna hosted by the Illinois State Museum, Springfield,
Illinois, USA. It was a personal triumph of Dr. Nikolai
Vereschagin traveling to the USA a second time.
Dr. Vereschagin dreamed of visiting Africa, and
finally, in 2007, with the help of his hunter friends he
traveled to the lake Nauru National Park, and Misaim
Mara National Reserve in Kenai. The purpose of this
trip wasnt to hunt, which he considered not worthy if it
wasnt survival necessity or needed for scientific work.
Dr. Vereschagin was delighted having had a chance to
see the African grasslands and savanna with his own
eyes, the modern African ecosystem that so much re-
sembled the Pleistocene ecosystems of Eurasia, de-
scribed by him and his co-author in one of his papers.
Dr. Vereschagin was a member of the International
Council for Archaeology and other scientific societies
including honorary memberships in the All-Russian
Hierological Society and the Czechoslovakia Zoologi-
cal Society. Among the highest awards earned by Dr.
Vereschagin were the Honorary Scientist of Russia
and the Honorary Member of the Peter the Great
Academy of Science (1998).
From 1970 to 1982 Dr. Vereschagin was the editor
of the special paleontological series of the «Proceed-
ings of the Zoological Institute,» a yearly volume of
papers devoted to Pleistocene paleontology within the
Soviet Union. He was the author ofmore than280

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In memoriam
scientific papers, popular publications and eight mono-
graphs. His publications ranged from in depth analyses
of faunas, to taxonomical and taphonomical research,
and to popular books, such as the Why did Mammoths
Become Extinct? (1979), The Memoirs of a Paleon-
tologist (1981), Zoological Journeys (1986), Exte-
rior of the Mammoth (1999; English version), and
From Muskrat to Mammoth: the Life of a Zoologist
(2002). Just few months before his death, Dr. Vere-
schagin finished his last book My Century; Memoirs
and Science Work (in Russian). It is sad that the author
will never see the publication.
Having had a deep interest in Pleistocene Megafau-
na and being an experienced field collector through his
science career, Dr. Vereschagin had a comprehensive
approach in studying paleontological sites he was in-
volved in. When searching for and collecting megafau-
na remains, he collected insects, plants, birds, and fish
to build up collections for future generations of scien-
tists. His research, papers and books were powerful,
riveting and thought provoking, attracting to him many
students from different parts of the USSR. Students
learned much from him and his publications. Dr. Vere-
schagins scientific advisor capacity and supervision of
14 PhD and three Doctors of Sciences students was
tough and challenging. He significantly contributed to
the success of their dissertations and future growth in
their science careers.
From his full retirement at the Zoological Institute
in 1995 until the very end, Dr. Vereschagin continued a
very active life working in his reserved office at the
Institute, and at home; publishing papers, attending
scientific conferences, consulting the public and scien-
tists, and sometimes, hunting big game. He also contin-
ued working for the Taimyr National Reserve, Siberia,
and made his last trip there in 2002. Despite his old age,
Dr. Vereschagin was always interested and eager to go
to conferences related to his studies, in Russia and
abroad. Due to his age permissions from officials for
travel abroad were rarely granted, but he holds on
fighting for every scientific trip and often won.
Being a very well-known person, even a celebrity in
the paleontological world, Dr. Vereschagin was devoid
of arrogance. When he had conversations with some-
body, it didnt matter to Dr. Vereschagin if the person
was a student or very high official. What mattered most
was persons intelligence and interest in science. In
Russia and abroad, Dr. Vereschagin made a long-last-
ing impression on many scientists and the public, who
met him personally or heard his presentations. In 1997,
after a presentation at the Journey Museum (Rapid
City, SD, USA) the senior author was approached by
several senior citizens, who wanted to know, if he
indeed was working with Dr. Vereschagin. Obviously,
the visit of Dr. Vereschagin to Hot Springs, SD in 1990
was a very memorable event in their lives.
Through all his life Dr. Vereschagin has been a
maverick and brave fighter for his opinions and inde-
pendent thoughts, and has never hesitated to tell in-
convenient truth to administrators and officials. He
made his life-long career honestly, without compromis-
ing with political authorities. The bright scientist, orig-
inal thinker, teacher, talented writer, self-taught artist,
and passionate game hunter will be sorely missed by all
his family, friends and colleagues.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. The authors would like
to thank Dr. Bonnie Styles and Dr. J. Saunders (Illinois
State Museum) for the provided photos and pin, and
Kathy Anderson (Hot Springs, SD) and Tatyana Vere-
schagina (St. Petersburg, Russia) for the information on
Dr. Vereschagins travels.