Accepted_test

To date, a number of studies on the phylogenetics of woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) have been published, ranging from analyses of parts of the mitochondrial genome to studies of complete nuclear genomes. Despite the large number of studies, the sample of specimens from Siberia and the Far East was mainly represented by northern and eastern regions. Samples of the mammoth fauna from geographically isolated areas, such as the Minusinsk Basin and Kotelny Island, have not been studied at the molecular genetic level. This work involved high-throughput sequencing libraries of twenty-two woolly mammoth bone samples, two-round enrichment using biotinylated probes of modern Elephas maximus mtDNA immobilised on magnetic microspheres, sequencing and subsequent bioinformatic analysis. Phylogenetic reconstructions showed that all mammoth mtDNA variants studied belonged to clade I, thus extending its range. The placement of mammoth mitotypes in different subclades within clade I may indicate a rather high diversity of their gene pool. Phylogeographic reconstructions revealed the genetic proximity of mitochondrial lineages of Late Pleistocene mammoths from the Minusinsk Basin and other regions of Eastern Siberia and their divergence in the time interval 100-150 thousand years ago, indicating active migrations of woolly mammoths across large areas of Eastern Siberia in the late Middle Pleistocene - early Late Pleistocene.