The land of calm large and small rivers, flooded and dry meadows, clear lakes, forests and fields. The wealth and pride of the Kostroma land are forests (they make up 67% of the region's territory). The fauna of forests, meadows, and fields is diverse (more than 240 species of birds and 56 species of mammals). The inhabitants of our forests are: moose, bears, foxes, hares, squirrels and other animals.

By visiting the nature department of the museum-reserve, you will walk through your native land, breathe in the life-giving air of fields and forests, listen to the singing of winged friends - birds, and visit the forest. The department's exhibitions will tell you about many amazing things in nature. You will learn how skillfully birds build their homes (a ball of moss and birch bark - a finch's nest, a warbler's hut, or an oriole's nest suspended like a hamman, etc.), and the destroyers of harmful insects - red forest ants - have no equal . One family destroys several million forest pests during the summer season. Many people do not know about the unusual lifestyle of the tiny shrew - with its own weight of 3 grams, it eats 12 grams of food per day - therefore, such a small animal is needed by nature and is beneficial.

Dioramas in the halls of the museum reveal the way of life, habits, relationships between individual elements of nature, forest dramas (an attack by a polar owl on a brown hare or a lynx jumping on its prey, etc.).

Spring, dawn, on a tree there is a bird with red eyebrows. It is on the Kondaevsky raised bog that a capercaillie sings before sunrise. Behind the glass is the tranquil blue of the waters - the Kostroma Reservoir in the area of ​​Zharki Island - here is represented the diverse population of the artificial sea formed in 1957 as a result of the construction of the Gornovsky hydroelectric complex. The reservoirs of the region are rich in fish (up to 43 species of fish are found.)

The entire diversity of flora and fauna in the halls is presented in seasonal colors, and the method of constructing exhibitions is close to landscape. The amazingly diverse flora and fauna of our region can only be preserved for future generations by protecting nature in all its diversity. The wonderful Soviet writer M. Prishvin said: “Fish need water, birds need air, animals need forest, steppe, mountains. But a person needs a homeland. And protecting nature means protecting the Motherland.”

With all kinds of mammals, tree species and shrubs, medicinal plants that are subject to special protection, living and growing in the Kostroma region, can be found in the halls of the nature department. To protect the animal world in the Kostroma region, 12 permanent and temporary reserves of local significance have been created, special protection has been organized for 167 natural monuments, about 40 species of medicinal plants, 15 species of trees and shrubs (by decision of the executive committee of the regional council people's deputies dated June 10, 1974)

To preserve the natural resources of the Kostroma land, you need to treat it with care and wisely use its natural gifts, for even in the first years of Soviet power, V.I. Lenin said that: “Nature can be inexhaustible if people; When using it, they treat it with care, deeply understand its laws and apply them thoughtfully.”

The text was compiled by Popova R. A.

Publication from the local history website kostromka.ru

"Deforestation" - Tropic Disaster. Deforestation for timber use. The importance of forest ecosystems. Finland has only 2% of the world's forest reserves and produces 25% of the world's paper. The largest forest area remains in Asia, the smallest in Australia. Ecological problems. The southern forest belt is located mainly in the tropical and equatorial climate zone.

“Kostroma Pushkins” - Alexander Boshnyakov - Pushkin’s secret agent Historian - Kostroma Arsenyev. One of the poet's closest friends. Friend A.S. Pushkin founded the first hospital for peasants. Luginin talks about his meetings with Pushkin in his diary entries. Pavel Katenin. Fedor Luginin. Anna Ivanovna Gotovtseva. Ekaterina Bakunina.

“Geography of Forests” - Geography of Russian forests. Goals and objectives: The water conservation role of forests is enormous. The forested area of ​​Russia is 763.5 million hectares, i.e. 22% of the world's forest area. Russia is called the country of forests. Forest is one of the sources of oxygen on earth. Questions and assignments. Therefore, a distinction is made between coniferous, mixed and coniferous-broad-leaved forests.

“Forest zone 4th grade” - House for plants, animals, mushrooms. Ways to solve problems. Restoration of cut down forests. Reduction and complete disappearance of many animal species. Mixed forest. Lack of oxygen. Broad-leaved forests. The meaning of the forest. Deciduous trees. Fir. Source of wood. Pine. Air pollution. Oak.

“Desert Zone” - Sometimes all summer there is not a drop of rain! Desert zone. People. Do you believe that... Tumbleweeds. The nights are cool and the sand and clay cool quickly. The steppe zone is located north of the forest zone. Plants. Camel thorn. Occupations of people: Jerboa long-eared hedgehog. Ecology: Winter in the steppe is warmer than in the forest zone.

“Forest zone” - Name the adaptations of plants for life in the zone of mixed and deciduous forests. Geography 8th grade Natural zones of Russia Forest zone. Taiga plants. Review questions. Name the adaptations of animals for living in mixed and deciduous forests. Plants of mixed and deciduous forests.

At the intersection of the Volga and Kostroma rivers is the Kostroma region. She is attractive and beautiful. Most tourists come here to enjoy the cleanliness forest air and get into wild world nature.

The Kostroma region is famous for its attractions - the Museum of Wooden Architecture, the Church of the Epiphany, the Ipatiev Monastery and the Trading Rows.

The territory development plan approved by Catherine II is also interesting. Thanks to it, tourists and residents of the Kostroma region can easily get to the city center.

On the Volga there is the Kostroma river port, which allows you to maintain telephone communications with all areas of the region.

Flora of the Kostroma region

Most of the flora of the Kostroma region is occupied by forests. The main species are coniferous species: pine and spruce. Deforested or burned areas of forests are favorable for the growth of birch and aspen trees.

If we talk about the broad-leaved tree species we are used to: maples, oaks, paws, then there are practically none there.

The southwestern territory of the Kostroma region is occupied by coniferous forests, including: Siberian firs, Russian larches, Siberian spruces. And the Northeast direction is favorable for oaks, maples, ash trees, wild apple trees and other trees.

The grass cover of the Kostroma region is quite diverse, most of it is occupied by cereal families.

You can also find a large number of mushrooms on the edges and clearings.

In the Kostroma region there are meadows that also deserve special attention. They are covered with various grasses, which include: meadow fescue, timothy, clover, and short grass. Also in these places you can find bluegrass, mouse peas and buttercup.

Soil with high humidity is ideal for growing sedges and reed grass.

There are also forested meadows in the northeast of the region. Cereals, legumes, and herbs grow in these meadows. Representatives of cereals are: turfgrass, drooping pearl barley, bentgrass. Legume species - spring peas, wild and mouse peas, creeping clover. Herbs - coastal gravilat, wild buttercup, European bathwort, wild rosemary, meadowsweet, forest marten, spotted orchis, cuffs, goldenrod, fireweed, sour sorrel and others.

Fauna of the Kostroma region

The fauna of the Kostroma region is quite diverse. Most of the animals are those for whom the tundra and forests are a comfortable habitat. On the northern side you can find a white owl, a white partridge, and a wolverine. And in the south - the black stork, the short-tailed snake eagle, and the spadefoot spadefoot.

Hunting of some animals is prohibited. In order to hunt elk, wild boar, bear, otter, beaver or marten, a license is required.

But for the most part, the fauna of the Kostroma region has not been studied. For example, there is no information about mollusks, crustaceans, chelicerates, unicellular, coelenterates and all types of worms.

The Kologrivsky Forest nature reserve can give you an idea of ​​the fauna of the Kostroma region. It lives in great amount animals. For example, mammals - elk, brown bears, wolves, wild boars, foxes, squirrels, minks, badgers, trotters, hares and others.

Speaking about superiority in the animal world, it is worth highlighting the largest and most dangerous - this is the wolf, Brown bear and moose.

The reserve also houses raccoon dogs, beavers and muskrats.

The Kostroma region has also attracted birds such as hazel grouse, capercaillie, duck, and black grouse.

The aquatic world of the Kostroma Nature Reserve is famous for the presence of bream, roach, pike, blue bream, silver bream, catfish and others.

As for amphibians, the main representatives are the grass and sharp-faced frogs, the common toad and the newt. They live in various bodies of water and excessively wet areas.

Also in this forest you can see vipers and grass snakes, fast and viviparous lizards.

Rodents, beavers, chipmunks, ferrets, lynxes, moles - and this is only a small part of the animals that have found their home in the forests of the Kostroma region.

Climate in the Kostroma region

Kostroma spring begins at the end of March, the air temperature warms up to +10, even higher. Already at the end of May, warm weather arrives in the Kostroma region. summer weather, which is approximately 18-22 degrees. At the end of August the air begins to slowly cool down. In September the thermometer does not rise above 10 degrees. As a rule, autumn is very rainy and damp. Winter is cold and snowy. It starts closer to December and ends at the beginning of spring. The average temperature is -10 degrees, but can drop significantly lower.

The nature of the Kostroma region is beautiful and unique. The azure fields of flowering flax, the dim blue of the sky, the lowland ridges, leisurely winding rivers and dense forests - all this is Kostroma land. Kostroma side, blue backwaters, field, river, forest edges. Blooming flax, meadows, edges. It is impossible not to love you: You are my Russia. V. Bokov

Development of crafts, industrial production, agriculture, hunting, etc. led to the fact that the Kostroma region became increasingly involved in market relations, the merchant class grew stronger and expanded. Rivers were most actively used for transporting people, goods, and floating timber. It is no coincidence that the coat of arms of Kostroma became a boat flying through the waves. Kostroma served as a transshipment point for goods traveling from the lower reaches of the Volga to Arkhangelsk, and from there through the White Sea to foreign markets. The largest shopping centers are gradually becoming Galich, Chukhloma, Unzha, and Makaryev.

The Kostroma region is located in the central part of the Russian Plain on the banks of the great Russian Volga River between 57°18 and 59°37 northern latitude. Its westernmost point is at 40°33 east longitude, and its easternmost point is at 47°42 east longitude. The length from north to south is about 260 km, from west to east – more than 400 km. In terms of area (60.1 thousand sq. km.) it can be compared with some European states. In the north it borders with the Vologda region, in the east - with Kirov region, in the south - with Nizhny Novgorod and Ivanovo regions, in the west - with Yaroslavl region.

In the distant past, the territory of the Kostroma region was covered with a powerful ice sheet. The glacier did not remain in place. On the territory of the region we can see the results of his creative activity - gently sloping moraine hills. The glacial moraine landscape is especially well expressed in the Kostroma, Chukhloma and Galich regions. The most striking relief forms in the region are the Kostroma and Unzhenskaya lowlands, the Galich-Chukhloma ridge and the spurs of the Northern ridges.

The Kostroma Lowland is located along the left and right banks of the Kostroma River, stretches from Buya to the Volga for 80 km, the width reaches 20 km. The surface of the lowland does not exceed 110 m above sea level. The entire floodplain area is filled with meadows, swamps, lakes, and oxbow lakes. The Unzha Lowland stretches along the Unzha River from north to south, descending towards the Volga River valley. Most of this lowland has an altitude of less than 150 meters above sea level, and only a few places rise higher.

In the west of the region there is the Galich-Chukhloma ridge. The ridge stretches from the city of Chukhloma to Galich and further south to the Volga. Here, near the town of Ples, it is crossed by the Volga. The ridge serves as a watershed for two basins - the Kostroma River and the Unzha River. Highest height 292 m above sea level at the sources of the Shachi and Noli rivers. The Volga cut this ridge near the town of Ples, forming picturesque banks.

Our region is rich in mineral resources. And although there are no non-ferrous metal ores or coal here, its wealth consists of non-metallic minerals. One of the most common groups is Construction Materials. Limestones and marls are located throughout the region in the area of ​​​​the city of Soligalich, where their total thickness reaches 90 m. Limestone is suitable for producing building lime, brick, and cement. Oil shale, peat, sapropel - these minerals can play a big role in the development of local industry. Peat is the most widespread. Its rich reserves are concentrated in the Kostroma region. The thickness of the peat layer in some places reaches 8 m.

Peat is used as fuel in thermal power plants and in housing. Peat is also known as a nitrogen fertilizer. However, the possibilities of peat are much wider. Peat can be used to produce high-melting wax, which serves as the best component of mixtures used for precision casting. From the solution obtained after special processing of a ton of dry peat, the following substances can be produced: feed yeast, ethyl alcohol, non-protein protein substitute, molasses. Dry sediment is also used: it produces granular fertilizers and fuel briquettes. Oil shale deposit - Manturovskoye. They are used only in the fuel industry. Distillation waste – pitch – is used to produce asphalt and roofing felt.

Sapropel is lake silt. Large reserves of sapropel are found in the Galich and Chukhloma lakes. The main use of sapropel is as an organic fertilizer. But it can be both fuel and raw material for the chemical industry. Studies have shown that it is possible to obtain oils from it that replace petroleum, tar, wax, paraffin, ammonia, and methyl alcohol. Iron (swamp) ores are found in the form of heavy fragments of various sizes. Ore deposits are widespread on the left bank of the Kostroma River, in the Unzha and Vetluga basins. It was these ores that gave rise to the jewelry industry in the village of Krasnoe-on-Volga.

In the depths of the Kostroma region you can even find semi-precious stones. In one of the quarries of the Soligalichsky district, a rock is found - amethyst: a purple transparent ornamental stone, which would be useful for jewelers. The fossil riches of our region have not yet been sufficiently studied.

About 3,000 large and small rivers, rivers and streams flow through the Kostroma region. Most rivers are up to 20 km long. And the length of such rivers as Kostroma, Unzha, Vetluga, Neya, Vokhma is more than 200 km. Rivers have mixed nutrition: -In winter, when the rivers freeze, the only source of nutrition is groundwater. -During long and snowy winters, a large amount of snow accumulates in the Volga basin, so melt water- source of river nutrition in spring. -In summer and autumn, rivers are fed by rainwater.

All rivers freeze. The freeze-up period lasts from late November to late April. In the southwest, the freeze-up period is shorter, by northeast– longer. The largest river in Europe, the Volga, flows through the Kostroma region. Its tributaries: the Kostroma, Unzha, Vetluga, Solonitsa, Kuban rivers. It is known that the Greeks knew this river under the name Ra, which means “river”, the Arabs - Itil, the Tatars - Idel - “big river”. Since the 10th century, the Slavs called the Volga River after Lake Volgo, through which the river flows in its upper reaches.

Small rivers are the beginning of large rivers. These are spawning grounds commercial fish. These rivers do not always flow calm and quiet. During the period of lowest water - low water, rivers flow along the riverbed. During high water, during the period of snow melting, they overflow their banks and flood the floodplain. During floods the speed increases. The rivers of the region are transport routes, used for navigation, timber rafting, are water reservoirs, hunting grounds, and are used as sources of water supply for economic and domestic needs, as recreation areas.

There are 50 lakes of different sizes in the region. Largest lakes Kostroma region - Galichskoe and Chukhlomskoe. The formation of these lakes dates back to the period of the second glaciation, which covered the territory of the modern European part of Russia. The lakes are thousands of years old. Lake Galich has an oblong shape, stretched from west to east. The length of the coastline is 45 km, the average depth is 1.7 m. The lake freezes at the beginning of November, the opening occurs at the end of April.

There are many springs in the middle part of the lake, where the water does not freeze even in winter. Several rivers flow into the lake (Chelsma, Svyatichka, etc.), only one flows out - Veksa (a tributary of the Kostroma River). The thickness of the silt deposits is 4-6 m, in some places up to 9 m. The lake becomes shallower every year.

Chukhloma Lake is the second largest lake in the region. Over time, the lake became shallow. Its northeastern part has turned into a swamp. The process of swamping is still ongoing. The lake retreated from the shores by 0.5-1.5 km. The depths of the lake decrease, the average depth is about 1.7 m. The length of the lake coastline is 26 km. One river flows out of the lake - Veksa - the left tributary of the Kostroma River. The lake is heavily overgrown; the area of ​​the lake is overgrown about 90%.

Swamps occupy about 3.5% of the region's area. Some swamps were formed as a result of overgrowing lakes. Other swamps have formed in lowlands, where impermeable layers come close to the surface. The western and southwestern regions of the region are characterized by the greatest swampiness. In the Kostroma region, low-lying peat bogs predominate.

Raised bogs are common along the lower reaches of the Unzha River. Many swamps became places for peat extraction and turned into agricultural land. Following the drainage of the swamps, rivers began to shallow, groundwater levels dropped, weather conditions changed, the danger of water and wind erosion arose, and forest fires became more frequent. In 1982, a decision was made to protect 88 peat deposits.

Among the swamps of water conservation significance, the following stand out: Zavetluzhskoye - for the Vetluga River; Morozikha – located in the floodplain of Lake Galich; Bychikhinskoe - for the Mesa River; Bolshoye 2 Makaryevsky district - for the Unzha River; Obabochnoe - for the Unzha River. Dudinskoye – for the Unzha River and Lake Medvezhye; Bolshoye 1 of the Neysky district - for the Shuya River and the Prudoviki River; Voronskoye, Sudislavsky district - for the Mera River; Svetloye, Sharya district - for the Vetluga River.

On average per 1 sq. cm of the surface of the Kostroma region receives kcal of total radiation. The highest rate of reflected radiation is from October to March, the radiation balance is negative. At this time, temperatures are low, from November to March negative, and the most cold month- January. The maximum amount of solar radiation occurs in June-July. The share of direct radiation also increases; in August it is 50%.

For the Kostroma region, the western transfer of air masses from the Atlantic predominates. There are frequent cyclones that come from the North Atlantic. Therefore, in the summer, cloudy, cloudy, cool weather sets in; with the arrival of cyclones, the temperature drops by 2° - 4°. Arctic air comes from the Arctic Ocean to the region. In winter it brings severe cold weather. The absolute minimum recorded in the region is -44°, -48°. Arctic air intrusions in spring and autumn are very dangerous. In summer, arctic air causes drought and rising temperatures.

Atmospheric precipitation is distributed relatively evenly across the region. This is due to the flat nature of the surface. The average annual precipitation is 670 mm – 600 mm. Precipitation is distributed unevenly over the seasons. In summer it is 300 – 350 mm. Over the 5 winter months, their number does not exceed 150 - 160 mm. This amount of precipitation leads to the formation of a stable snow cover of sufficient height.

Late frosts in spring and early autumn are common occurrences in the Kostroma region. They limit the growing season of many heat-loving crops. In May, frosts occur annually, most often at the beginning of the month, once every 15 years - at the end of May and beginning of June.

Ice is a dense sediment of ice that forms during the cold season, when warming occurs after frosty weather, accompanied by precipitation or fog. Ice usually occurs from November to March, especially in December. Ice on roads and sidewalks impedes the movement of vehicles and pedestrians and creates emergency situations.

Similar natural disasters They are very rare in the region. On June 9, 1984, hurricane-force winds hit the Lunevo tourist center, the pioneer camp and the neighboring village. The tornado, like an ax, cut down centuries-old spruce and pine trees in the Lunev area, damaged the building of a five-story hotel, destroyed residential buildings, and a boat pier; The bulk of the water tower appeared to be cut in half. In the summer of 2003, a tornado hit the Trifonych sanatorium and the nearby Volga coast, touching the territory of the village. Minsk.

The frost-free period in the region is short (from 100 days in the north to 130 days in the south). Therefore, climatic conditions make it possible to grow crops that do not require much heat: potatoes, vegetables, flax, rye, oats, barley. With high air and soil humidity, in cool and cloudy summer conditions, flax produces good fiber. Early autumn and late spring frosts determine the timing of crop sowing and harvesting. Frequent rains in August and September and the early onset of cold weather shorten the harvest time.

The Kostroma region is located in the zone of soddy-podzolic soils. Alluvial soils are formed on rocks of fairly light mechanical composition. This is due to the accumulation of material brought during floods in river floodplains. The humus content of alluvial soils is lower than that of soddy-podzolic soils. This is due to the fact that organic matter and minerals are washed down the profile by channel runoff. Swampy peat soils are common in Makaryevsky, Kadyysky, Neysky, Susaninsky, Soligalichsky districts.

About 3000 years ago in the modern zone southern taiga in the area of ​​Novgorod, Yaroslavl and Kostroma, broad-leaved forests with small areas of spruce predominated. Among the coniferous species in our area, spruce predominates. In addition to spruce, fir and birch grow in these forests, and small-leaved linden grows in drier areas.

The reference area of ​​indigenous natural forests of the southern taiga subzone is the “Kologrivsky Forest” - a state natural monument. The uniqueness of the site lies in the absence of traces of anthropogenic influence on the life of the plant community. Spruce makes up 65% of the community. The age of these trees reaches years, the height is m, the diameter of the trunk is cm. Among birds and mammals, species associated with the forest prevailed and still prevail. Even in the first millennium BC, hunting, fishing, and beekeeping were of great importance in the life of the tribes inhabiting the upper Volga region. Along the Vetluga River, at tribal sites, bones of beavers, moose, reindeer, martens, bears, wolves, otters, white hares, wood grouse, and swans were discovered.

In the 70s, wild boar, roe deer and even sika deer appeared in the Kostroma region from neighboring regions. Its number is small (1-2 thousand). Severe snowy winters and lack of food cause high mortality among newcomers. Many animals are exterminated by humans.

The number of wolves in the Kostroma region has always been quite high. It especially increased during the war and post-war years. Constantly active pursuit of the wolf by humans forces this predator to retreat to the wooded, less populated northern areas of the region. The wolf is more common in the Kologrivsky, Soligalichesky, Chukhloma, Vokhomsky districts.

The basis of the fur trade in the Kostroma region is mole, squirrel, fox, marten, and mink. The mole began to be hunted recently. Back in the 30s, the peasants of the upper Vetluga were afraid to pick up moles with their hands. The squirrel is a very common fur-bearing animal in our region. The number and hunting of squirrels is associated with the harvest of cedar seeds. From 1 to 60 individuals were caught annually from 1 hectare of forest. There are especially many squirrels in the Vokhomsky, Soligalichesky, and Chukhloma districts.

KOSTROMA is the most important administrative, economic and cultural center of the region. It was founded in 1152 by Moscow Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. The place where the city grew was convenient for trade and internal connections. The Kostroma River flowing into the Volga connected the city with the forest Trans-Volga region. With its unique appearance, Kostroma stands out among other cities in the Upper Volga region. It is difficult to pass by houses dressed in carved lace indifferently. What kind of talent and skill one had to have in order to masterfully cut them out of pine and spruce. To match the “wooden” Kostroma, the “stone” Kostroma with its architectural ensemble, the center of which is Susaninskaya Square, the streets radiating from it. The area is spacious, there are few buildings on it. But what kind!

D.N. Umbrellas

Flora and fauna of the Kostroma region
millions and thousands of years ago

Usually the history of the Kostroma region begins with the appearance of the first people on the territory of the modern region, but this is not entirely true, since the history of the region goes back hundreds of millions of years and began long before our distant ancestors arrived here. There are very few works devoted to one degree or another to the most ancient periods of the history of the flora and fauna of the Kostroma land. In addition, most of them consider only some individual aspects of this topic.

The main difficulty in conducting any research into eras before the Quaternary period is that numerous glaciers coming from the north periodically destroyed the layers of previous eras, and what remained was buried under multi-meter layers of moraine sediments. Traces of life from the distant past can only be seen along river banks, where water washes away fossilized shells, mollusks or bones of ancient animals, or in sand and gravel quarries, where people sometimes come across entire “graveyards” of fossils. As already mentioned, there are very few works devoted to the ancient flora and fauna of the Kostroma region. Since the beginning of the 90s. In the 19th century, local historians who were members of the Kostroma Provincial Scientific Archival Commission (KGUAC) touched upon certain aspects of this topic. The successor to KGUAK was Kostroma, which arose in 1912. scientific society for the study of the local region (KNO). Among the members of the KNO, first of all, it is necessary to name the geologist A.M. Zhirmunsky, for three years (1912 - 1914), who conducted geological research on the Unzhe, Vetluga and Volga rivers (1). During these studies, they paid great attention to the remains of plants and animals of past geological eras. A special role in the study of the ancient animal world of our region was played by the outstanding local historian, archaeologist and ethnographer, founder and permanent director of the KNO V.I. Smirnov (1882 - 1941). Not being a biologist, he left several review works devoted to the finds in the Kostroma province of the remains of ancient animals (mainly ice age), which have not lost their meaning to this day (2). Those published in the 10-30s are very important for our topic. XX century works of geologist M.A. Weidenbaum (3). Local historian E.F. touched upon certain aspects of the history of the flora in our region in his fundamental work on Kostroma forests. Dubuque (1876 - 1942) (4). Biologist A.E. made a certain contribution to the study of the flora of the Kostroma region. Zhadovsky, who described the vegetation and soil structure of the Kostroma province (5). Much attention geological history vegetation of the region is given attention to on the pages of the book “Geographical Outline of the Kostroma Region” published in 1947, the author of which is G.G. Eremin, was an old member of the KNO (6). Some aspects of the history of flora and fauna were touched upon in the book “Kostroma Region: Historical and Economic Essay” published in 1959 by local historian N.N. Vladimirsky (7). Research conducted in 1959 - 1961 is of great importance for our topic. on the territory of our region by the Kostroma geological exploration expedition of the USSR Ministry of Geology, the results of which were published in 1965 (8). The collection of expedition works contains valuable materials about the ancient flora and fauna obtained as a result of drilling operations. The flora and fauna of the Kostroma region of past eras are briefly described on the pages of the textbook “Geography of the Kostroma Region,” published in 1995 (9).

This work makes an attempt to give a general picture of the development of flora and fauna on the territory of the Kostroma region from the Devonian period (400 million years ago) to the Holocene era (10 thousand years ago).

Devonian

It would be logical to start telling the story about the natural history of the Kostroma land from the Devonian period, the Paleozoic era (400 million years ago). Why exactly from this time, and not more early periods history of the Earth?

Life on our planet began about 4.5 billion years ago, but most of this time the evolution of all living organisms took place in water. The landscape of the place that, hundreds of millions of years later, would become Kostroma land, could resemble the modern appearance of a rocky desert, with the only difference being that any desert is inhabited, even with mushrooms and lichens, and the land of that time was lifeless and sterile.

Active settlement of land began precisely in the Devonian: “During the Devonian, many major groups of plants appeared, including, possibly, gymnosperms” (10). The emergence of the first living organisms onto land occurred in the Silurian (450 million years ago), but judging by the small number of finds of pre-Devonian plants, the flora of this time was very sparse: “... terrestrial vegetation apparently existed before the Devonian period, but the facts at our disposal do not prove that the land was widely inhabited by Silurian vegetation” (11). Apparently, the flora of that time was mainly represented by the genera Coocsonia, Zosterophyllum and Rhinia. These simply organized spore-bearing vascular plants without leaves grew partly in the water or at the very edge of the water.

The real transformation of the landscape occurs precisely in the Devonian period. Just at this time, over vast areas, the sea retreats (regresses), freeing up all European part Russia. During this period, the six currently existing continents made up two mega-continents: Gondwana and Laurasia, separated by the Tethys Ocean. Modern Europe, together with the territory occupied by the Kostroma region, was part of the northern megacontinent Laurasia. The existence of Laurasia proves the unity of the centers of origin of plants and animals, the possibility of broad connections between the developing Holarctic flora. It is assumed that the climate at that time was much milder than it is now. There were no such strong temperature changes; the average annual temperature in the European part of Russia was + 17 - 23 degrees Celsius. The air was saturated with water vapor, there were frequent rains, in general, it was a humid tropical zone.

If we could get to the territory of the Kostroma region 400 million years ago, we would most likely see the following picture: the entire region is covered with tropical rainforests, the temperature regime of which is similar to the tropical zone of modern Southeast Asia. The forests are dominated by plants of the genus, some species of which reached a height of 25 meters, and in appearance they vaguely resembled modern mosses. The flora of that time is usually called Archaeopteris, after the most common genus. Plants of the department are very widespread lycophytes (Sawdonia, Archaeosigilaria, Asteroxylon); department ferns (Cladoxylon, Pseudosporochnus) and the oldest gymnosperms (Pogumnospermopsida). We can still find distant descendants of these plants in our forests, for example, club moss (Lycopodium clavatum), clubmoss (L. complanatum); ferns:

bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)

, ostrich feather (Onjclea struthiopteris), female nomad (Athyrium filix femina). At that distant time, all plants reproduced by spores; only at the end of the Devonian period did the first gymnosperms appear. Some scientists call the Devonian the “golden age” of plants: if at the beginning of the Devonian species composition plants and the area of ​​land covered by them were quite modest, then the Middle Devonian amazes with the diversity of species; plants at this time occupied almost all the free space of the land.

Plants were among the first to master land - this new world for all living organisms. And almost immediately, following the plants, animals began to penetrate into this undeveloped and hostile environment for all aquatic organisms. How difficult it was for them to get used to the world, where there are such large temperature changes during the day, and there is no water that supports body weight, where it is hot Sun rays dry out the skin very quickly. Among the first animals to penetrate this new habitat were arthropods (spiders, insects, centipedes). At the end of the Devonian, in the process of evolution, insects developed wings, which helped them master a new habitat - air. At this time, we could observe the ancestors of modern dragonflies, who were already flying and catching their food in the air. Outwardly, they were very similar to their distant descendants, whom we can see every summer. Dragonflies of that time differed from modern ones only in size: if now the largest wingspan of tropical species reaches 12 centimeters, then in the Devonian there were real giants - with a wingspan of up to 65 centimeters. Insects swarmed in the forest floor, which every person would recognize even now; nature created them so perfect that they have survived to this day, practically unchanged - these are cockroaches. In the Devonian, insects reigned supreme over the land.

Numerous fish live in Kostroma reservoirs of that time - these are armored fish heterostracus (Psammolepis) And placoderm (Botriolepis), appear lobe-finned fish (Eusthenopteron) And lungfish, which can breathe in addition to oxygen dissolved in water atmospheric air(Dipteris). It is possible that large arthropods of the extinct order of crustaceans, with a body length of up to 3 meters, were also found in reservoirs. At the end of the Devonian period, the first amphibians appeared - Ichtheostegalia (Ichthyostegalia). However, on the territory of our region, sediments related to the Devonian do not come to the surface anywhere (Devonian strata lie at a depth of several hundred meters), and we do not know any material remains of that time.

However, starting from the second half of the Devonian period, another advance of the sea (transgression) occurred, and the entire territory of the Kostroma region was flooded. The basin of the Upper Devonian Sea occupied most of the Russian Plain and combined the reservoirs of the modern Caspian, Black, Baltic and White seas.

Carboniferous period

For almost the entire Carboniferous period (345 - 280 million years ago), most of the Russian Plain was covered by a warm, shallow sea. It is not known whether the entire Carboniferous period, or Carboniferous (which means coal in Latin), the territory of the region was at the mercy of the water element. Most likely, there were periods when the sea retreated and the land was covered by the vegetation of that time: giant ferns, mosses and the ancestors of coniferous trees - cordaites.

Tetracorallia

The sea that covered the territory of the Kostroma region is called Volzhsky by geologists. It was limited in the southwest by the Carpathians, in the northwest by the Scandinavian Mountains, in the east by the Ural Mountains (the area where they would appear after some time), and in the south it bordered the Tethys Sea. Average annual temperature The Volga Sea, most likely, was no lower than + 25 degrees Celsius. This is proven by the presence of coal-bearing basins on the continents bordering the sea. " High temperatures The Volga Sea contributed to the emergence of very favorable climatic conditions in Angaria and the eastern parts of North Atlantis. In low, wide valleys that dissected mountain ranges and were open to warm air from the sea, very favorable conditions were created for the lush development of vegetation” (12). The salt solution from which our ancestors extracted salt in the Soligalichsky district and in the Nekrasovsky district of the modern Yaroslavl region was formed precisely during the Carboniferous period. Sold in our stores mineral water associated with Carboniferous marine deposits. Large deposits of lime in the Soligalichsky region were formed around the same time from the remains of marine animals: “In the Kostroma province, sediments of this sea (Volzhsky - D.Z.) in the form of calcareous strata, overflowing with fossil marine fauna, can be observed in the Soligalichsky district. There is no doubt that these limestones cover the entire territory of the province, but in other places they are very deeply hidden under the overlying sedimentary strata” (13). The warm sea of ​​the Carboniferous period had a rich faunal composition. Four-rayed corals (Tetracorallia), which lived in shallow sea zones, flourished; unlike modern ones six-rayed corals Living in colonies, four-rayed lived solitarily and therefore did not form reefs. Numerous echinoderms lived: crinoids - animals similar to plants. The Volga Sea was relatively shallow (its depth did not exceed 500 meters). Numerous and varied sea urchins and starfish were found in it; mollusks and ammonoids were widespread. At this time the first ones appear belemnoidea(the so-called “devil’s fingers”), although there are still few of them compared to the Jurassic period, the layers of which are literally stuffed with them, but the first small-sized belemnoids are found already in the Carboniferous. Appear in the Carboniferous cartilaginous fish(Chondrichthues), the most famous among them are sharks. Already at that time, many of these fish were very similar to those that exist today, although there were also ones completely different from modern ones, for example, the spiral-tooth shark. The sizes of carbon sharks range from 20 centimeters to 15 meters; Depending on the species, they fed on both small marine arthropods and six-meter-long armored fish distichis.

Ray-finned fish that appeared in the Devonian continue to populate the seas. The appearance of ray-finned fish of that time is very similar to the appearance of modern bony fish: the body is covered with scales, the fins acquired the structure familiar to us. The wide distribution of fish in the Carboniferous period is evidenced by frequent finds in the layers of that time of the remains of teeth, scales, and sometimes even entire prints of fish. True, the remains of living organisms have not yet been found on the territory of our region; the layers of the Carboniferous period do not come to the surface anywhere.

Permian period

Following the Carboniferous period, the last period of the Paleozoic, the Permian, began 280 million years ago. At this time, the process of mountain building was actively underway in the Urals and Tien Shan, but, what is much more important for us, the process of regression (recession of the sea) began again. Most of the Russian Plain along with the Kostroma region for the entire Permian and most Triassic period, for a total of almost 100 million years, becomes dry land again.

During the Permian period, continental glaciation processes took place on the southern megacontinent of Gondwana, and tectonic processes were more active than ever. On the northern megacontinent of Laurasia, tectonic processes are slightly less active and there is no such strong glaciation as in the south. The climate is milder, although there are also temperate climate zones, as well as zones similar to the modern subarctic cold zone.

During the Permian period, the Kostroma region was either in a tropical climate zone or in a zone with a temperate climate. The retreat of the seas led to serious cataclysms, which resulted in a serious change in fauna and flora. For example, at the beginning of the Permian period, more than 50% of vertebrates and more than 65% of invertebrates died out, and the flora of the continents also changed greatly. Presumably, in the first half of the Permian period, the Kostroma region was in the zone tropical climate, only, unlike the warm and humid Devonian, there was now an alternation of the dry part of the year and the rainy period. Changing climatic conditions forced the vegetation cover to change. Plants that needed an abundance of moisture (hydrophytes) disappeared, and drought-resistant plants (meso- and xerophytes) took their place. Paleobotanist A.N. Krishtofovich notes: “The already somewhat depleted vegetation of the Upper Carboniferous, losing its abundance of lepidodendrons and sigillaria, passes into the Lower Permian in a little changed form.<…>further depletion of lepidophytes is observed and, finally, the appearance on stage is completely new group– conifers, Walchia species” (14). We can judge the composition of the Permian flora from finds made both in the Vologda and Yaroslavl regions, and on the territory of our region. Most likely, at this time, a young group of plants, namely conifers, becomes quite widespread. Permian conifers only vaguely resemble conifers growing today - most of all they were similar to those growing in southern hemisphere Araucariaceae. Due to their low requirements for moisture, conifers inhabit elevated and poorly moist areas. Conifers of the Permian period are quite diverse - these include tall trees (up to 25 meters in height) and small shrubs. The needles are morphologically very diverse; they can be in our usual form (thin oblong shape), but they can also have quite large sizes, up to 20 centimeters, and be very flattened.

Numerous gymnosperms (Gymnospermae) orders of magnitude Cordaitales And bennettitales- These are plants of the most diverse appearance, mostly vaguely resembling modern tropical species. Depending on the humidity of the climate, either more drought-resistant conifers or more moisture-loving cordaites grew on the Kostroma land. The ancestors of ginkgos, Baiera, could have grown along the banks of reservoirs. Now there is only one type of this kind: Ginkgo biloba is a tall tree with leaves that have a characteristic bilobed shape. There was a wide variety of these plants in the Permian. In addition, few ferns and mosses grew in comparison with the Late Devonian. When analyzing the spore-pollen complex obtained as a result of drilling operations carried out in 1960 near the village of Raslovo in the Sudislavsky region, it was concluded that “this spore-pollen complex has a number of characteristic features: 1) pollen of conifers predominates (70 - 80%) , rich in generic composition; 2) the peculiar ribbed pollen of Vittatina is present, although in small quantities; 3) microspores of Azonomonoletes vulgaris were encountered; 4) the spore complex of pteridophytes is extremely poor; 5) low content of ginkgo and bennetite spores” (15).

The Permian land fauna is much more diverse than in the Devonian. Of the vertebrates, representatives of three classes are widespread: therapsids, cotylosaurs and batrachosaurs. The fauna of this period was studied in sufficient detail by the Russian scientist V.P. Amalitsky on the territory of the Vologda region, so we can say with confidence that the habitat of these species extended to the Kostroma region.

Most likely, at this time, animals from the therapsid class, considered the ancestors of mammals, lived in the Kostroma region. Among them is the genus Dvinia - small animals that hunted invertebrates and small vertebrates. They were no larger in size than a modern domestic cat, and their body structure vaguely resembled a raccoon. They were covered with rare hairline, which was one of the first evolutionary steps towards the emergence of a new class of animals - mammals; the second step was the development of a second palate so that breathing and chewing could be done at the same time, as well as changes in the structure of the dental apparatus. One of the most common predators among therapsids was Inostratcevia, a large (3.5 meters in length) animal that hunted pareiasaurs, whose length reached four meters and weighed about one ton. Therapsids had much in common in body structure with both amphibians and reptiles. For example, they are connected with amphibians by a similar structure of individual parts of the skeleton, and with reptiles - by the structure of the skin and way of life.

In the Middle Permian evolutionary process in some groups of animals there is an increase in body size, this is especially pronounced in stegocephali- semi-aquatic herbivorous animals that appeared at the end of the Devonian (some of them vaguely resembled modern crocodiles, others were more like huge toads) *.

* In the summer of 1914 A.M. Zhirmunsky discovered on the bank of the river. Vetlugi near the village of Bolshie Sludki in the modern Sharya region, numerous bones stegocephali (16).

Some representatives of the stegocephalian order grew up to four meters in height, and predators also increased in size accordingly. For example, an eotitanosuchus that most likely lived in the Kostroma region, vaguely resembling a crocodile on high paws, had a body length of six meters. Judging by the skeleton, Eotitanosuchus was quite slow and could only hunt similarly large and clumsy herbivorous animals. At the same time, amphibians from the group of labyrinthodonts lived on the territory of our region - animals up to five meters in length, whose body shape resembled crocodiles *.

* In the above-mentioned outcrops on the Vetluga River near the village of Bolshie Sludki in 1914, A.M. Zhirmunsky also discovered numerous bone remains labyrinthodonts(17). Speaking about finds on the river. Unzhe, M.A. Weidenbaum writes: “In Permo-Triassic clayey conglomerates and sandstones<...>Quite often one comes across very peculiar bones of the skull and other parts of the skeleton of a large amphibian - labyrinthodont" (18).

What is characteristic of animals of the Permian period? Most of them lived near bodies of water - this is due to the fact that an aquatic environment was necessary for the development of their offspring. In many animals, the skin, like that of modern frogs, still poorly protected the body from drying out. Animals of the Permian period had a very specific appearance, and we are unlikely to find anything similar to them from those now living on Earth. Most of the large animals were very sedentary, with strange growths on the skeleton, as if nature was experimenting, selecting the most successful combinations. In the Permian period, two branches of animals continued to develop, which in the future were destined to be the masters of the planet - these are the ancestors of dinosaurs and the distant ancestors of mammals.

At the end of the Permian period, as a result of the subsidence of the central and northern parts of the Russian Plain, the Kostroma region again became the bottom of a shallow warm sea for 8 - 10 million years.

Triassic

The Triassic, the first period of the Mesozoic era, began 230 million years ago. In the Triassic, tectonic processes that began in the Permian period continue. The megacontinent Gondwana began to gradually break up into Africa, Australia, Antarctica and South America. The Indian platform approached the Angarida continent (part of the future Eurasian continent).

At the beginning of the Triassic period, the Kostroma region was the bottom of a shallow sea, with an average depth of no more than 20 meters, as evidenced by data obtained as a result of research by P.A. Bolshakova cores from wells drilled in the Kostroma region. These cores contained different kinds ostracod ( bivalves), living on the bottom of shallow seas.

In the second half of the Triassic, as a result of the rise of the northern and central parts of the Russian Plain and the retreat of the sea, the Kostroma region again became dry land. The climate is becoming increasingly arid, and deserts occupy quite large areas.

In the first half of the Triassic, our region most likely was a semi-desert zone. The climate was continental, that is, with strong changes in temperature and atmospheric pressure during the day. The second half of the Triassic was probably marked by some softening of the climate, which may have been caused by gradual transgression - the advance of the sea, advancing simultaneously from the north and south. A.N. Krishtofovich notes: “Triassic floras are far from being among the most widespread on the globe, and this especially applies to the Lower and Middle Triassic era, which inherited the dry climate conditions of the Permian period” (19). In these conditions, the vegetation, first of all, must be drought-resistant. If we assume that an arid (dry) climate established in the Kostroma region in the first half of the Triassic, then we can model the following composition of plants on its territory. In places where groundwater did not lie very deep from the surface, horsetails could grow. Some types of horsetail reached up to ten meters in height, but there were plants of small size (one to one and a half meters). The main plant component in the Triassic were conifers, for example Voltzia koburgensis - low trees (up to 14 meters high), with short thick needles, sitting singly on an elongated shoot. There were plants of the order Cycadales - evergreen tree-like plants, with a columnar trunk up to ten meters high, crowned with a bunch of feathery fern-like leaves, vaguely reminiscent of some modern palms, as well as the order Czekanowskiales - gymnosperms, mostly of short stature (up to three meters), with ribbon-shaped leaves. In the east of the region, the climate in the Triassic was somewhat more humid, and the cordaites known to us could grow there. During geological exploration work carried out in 1959 - 1961. The All-Union Hydrogeological Trust in the basin of the Unzha and Vetluga rivers, as well as on the watershed of the Vetluga and the South, obtained the following data as a result of drilling: “In the lower part of the Ryabinsk horizon in well 86 (village of Ryabinovtsy, right bank of the Vetluga river) in a sample from the interlayer gray silty clays M.K. Künzel obtained a complete spore-pollen spectrum. Its composition is dominated by gymnosperm pollen (88.8%). Spores of pteridophytes account for 8.2%, microspores of unknown systematic affiliation (type Podozamites) – 3%. Among gymnosperms, ginkgos (28.2%) and bennetites (6.1%) predominate. In addition, a high content of ancient relict pollen with a ribbed body is noted. Along with this, a large number of new species of pollen, similar to the modern families Pinaceae and Podocarpaceae, as well as spores of ferns of the families Marattiaceae and Dipteridaqeae appear” (20). In the second half of the Triassic period, the climate became more favorable for the growth of ferns of the Thaumatopteris and Marattiaceae families. These were large ferns, possibly reaching a height of 8 - 10 meters, usually with a tuberous swollen trunk, with leaves that could reach five meters in length. But such plants, apparently, grew only in a few oases. Main role in flora The Triassic period was played by conifers.

Wetlugasaurus bones

At the beginning of the Triassic period, representatives of the Permian fauna were widespread in the Kostroma region. During a geological survey expedition in 1961, V.R. Lozovsky near the city of Manturov found bones of Wetlugasaurus, Micronemus, dental plates of Gnathorhiza, and scales of paleoniscids. In the reservoirs of that time there were freshwater lungfishes - ceratodus *.

* Speaking about finds on the river. Unzhe, M.A. Weidenbaum notes: “In the Permian-Triassic clayey conglomerates and sandstones, the remains of a lungfish freshwater fish, ceratodus, were found. This animal, which had both gills and lungs, is like a transitional link from fish to amphibians” (21).

The second half of the Triassic period was marked by the extinction of entire groups of reptiles - cotylosaurs, and amphibians - labyrinthodonts. The last ancient armored fish are dying out in the oceans. The place of extinct species is taken by new ones, more adapted to changed environmental conditions. The first primitive mammals, triconodonts, appear. In their appearance and size they resembled a rat; they fed on various insects. If there were reservoirs in the region, turtles and crocodiles that appeared in the Triassic could live in them. However, the main event of this period was the appearance of the first dinosaurs, which occupied a dominant position in all ecosystems globe over the next 150 million years.

Dinosaurs descended from reptiles of the Permian period - thecodonts *.

* In outcrops on the river. Vetluga near the village of Bolshie Sludki in 1914, A. M. Zhirmunsky discovered the bone remains of thecodonts (22).

At the beginning of the Mesozoic era, the future giants were quite small in size and fed on small vertebrates. Dinosaurs that appeared in the Triassic were small predators, and in the conditions of the dry period, in order to survive, they needed to travel long distances in search of food. Researchers believe that it was the ability to move quickly in space that allowed dinosaurs to win the competition against other groups of animals. Another evolutionary step was that dinosaurs no longer depended on water for the normal development of the embryo in the egg. Triassic reptiles laid eggs and embryos directly in the sand, like modern crocodiles and turtles.

Jurassic period

The Jurassic period began approximately 190 million years ago, its beginning was marked by another advance of the sea from south to north of the Russian Plain. At this time, the sea spreads in a latitudinal direction throughout the middle part of European Russia and, in addition, extends in a meridional direction from the Pechora River basin to the Caspian Sea.

M.A. Weidenbaum writes: “In the Jurassic era, the sea again floods our province, but it is no longer as vast and deep as it was in the Carboniferous era, and it rather has the character of a huge shallow lagoon covered with many islands. Along with fossils of marine fauna in the strata of the Jurassic system, we in some places find in abundance the remains of mineralized Jurassic wood, which indicates the presence of forested islands nearby. The second factor confirming this assumption is the frequent occurrence of conical shells from the class of scaphopods in the Jurassic strata. Similar mollusks still live in our seas to this day, burying themselves in coastal silt. In the open deep sea, far from the coast, such mollusks are not found” (23). Islands, the presence of which is assumed by M.A. Weidenbaum, was indeed located in the waters of the sea that flooded our region in the Jurassic period. Their existence is undoubtedly evidenced by the remains of pollen from coniferous and ginkgo trees (deciduous trees that reached a height of up to 25 meters). One such island (or a group of small islands), apparently, was located on the territory of modern Kostroma, Sudislavsky and Susaninsky regions. The second island (or group of islands) is in the Parfenyevsky, Neysky and Kologrivsky districts. Golden algae and dinoflagellates were widespread in the seas of that time.

The formation of oil shale in the region dates back to this time. The Unzha River in the Makarievsky region reveals layers of the Jurassic period that contain these minerals, however, their thickness in our region is small: only 20 - 40 centimeters. These minerals are formed from sapropel (dead organisms that sank to the bottom) and alumina.

Regarding the temperature regime of the sea that covered our region in the Jurassic period, there is no single point of view among researchers. A. Ivanov believed that it was relatively cold (although, most likely, no colder than the modern Black Sea), and pointed to the fact that on the territory of our region there are practically no remains of corals, inhabitants of warm waters. However, in the Jurassic layers of our region, the remains of ichthyosaurs are often found (an example is the remains of ichthyosaurs - vertebrae, individual bones - found in the 20th century on the territory of modern Kostroma, Susaninsky, Makaryevsky, Kologrivsky and other areas). This indicates that the average temperature of sea water in the cold season could not fall below + 12 - 15 degrees Celsius. In addition, an analysis of the pollen of the above-mentioned vegetation, which covered the islands and the entire territory of our region after the sea retreated, indicates that during this period the Kostroma region was in the subtropical zone.

V.A. Vakhromeev, speaking about Jurassic floras, notes: “The Jurassic and Early Cretaceous floras were dominated by ferns and such groups of gymnosperms as Bennetite, Cycadaceae, Ginkgoaceae, Chekanovskiaceae and conifers. They are quite numerous, but systematically monotonous. Representatives of the rest did not have significant development” (24). During the Jurassic period, various species of all the listed plant orders grew on the territory of our region. In the second half of the Jurassic period (160 - 155 million years ago), the sea again retreated to the south, completely freeing our region. Thanks to the research of the Kostroma geological exploration expedition of 1961, it is possible to quite accurately name the plants that grew in the region in the second half of the Jurassic period: “In the resulting spectrum, pollen of gymnosperms and spores of ferns are presented in approximately equal quantities. It should be noted that the importance of gymnosperm pollen in the spore-pollen complex of the Upper Jurassic increases down the section. The most abundant pollen among gymnosperms is from the genera Classopollis and Psophosphaera. The total number of the former is 12%, and the latter – 17%. The presence of Ginkgo, Glyptostrobus, Taxodiaceae, etc. has been established. Among the two-sac conifers, pollen from Cautonia oncodes is involved in the complex. Among the Pinaceae, forms of ancient appearance are observed. The spore composition contains a significant number of Leiotriletes, L. rotundiformis, L. typicus, Alsophila, Osmunda” (25). In the second half of the Jurassic period, representatives of the pine family appeared in our region, which currently occupy a significant area of ​​​​all Kostroma forests. A number of species from the genus pine were also quite widespread, some already at that time differed little from the well-known European pine.

The most famous marine fauna that lived in the Kostroma region during the Jurassic period can be divided into aquatic reptiles that lived in the first half of the period, and terrestrial reptiles that lived after the sea retreated. One of the largest aquatic reptiles of that time was the Elasmosaurus, belonging to the famous genus of plesiosaurs. It was a lizard whose length could reach 16 meters, with a very long neck - its cervical region could consist of 20 vertebrae. Attached to the neck was a relatively small head, vaguely reminiscent of the head of a crocodile, the jaws of which were lined with small, very sharp teeth. During the process of evolution, the limbs of the Elasmosaurus were modified into flippers. He hunted fish. Presumably, during the breeding season, female plesiosaurs crawled ashore and laid eggs in the sand, like modern turtles and crocodiles (plesiosaurs most likely lived in our region in the Jurassic Sea, but so far we have not found the remains of these reptiles). Another order of large aquatic reptiles, the remains of which were found in the 20th centuries on the territory of the Makaryevsky, Kologrivsky and Susaninsky districts, are ichthyosaurs *.

Unzha river valley

* In the summer of 1921, geologist M.A. Weidenbaum discovered “five vertebrae of ichthyosaurs” on the Unzha River near the city of Makariev (26). Commenting on these finds, he wrote: “In Jurassic and Cretaceous clays, especially in the Unzhensky region, vertebrae are often found, and in more rare cases, teeth of ichthyosaurs” (27).

These aquatic reptiles reached a length of 18 meters, their appearance vaguely resembled a dolphin, with the difference that the dolphin’s hind limbs, which form the tail, lie in a horizontal plane, while the ichthyosaurs’ tail lay in a vertical plane. Ichthyosaurs were predators that hunted fish and large representatives of Jurassic cephalopods. Repeatedly, paleontologists found small skeletons of ichthyosaur cubs inside the skeleton of an adult, which led to the conclusion that these lizards were viviparous.

During the Jurassic period, the sea was actively populated cephalopods- ammonoids and bellemnoids (people have long called the fossilized shells of bellemnoids “devil’s fingers”). The Jurassic Sea was inhabited by representatives of these two orders that varied in size and appearance. The shell of some belemnoids (belemnites) could reach a length of three meters, the tentacles - up to five meters. They led a lifestyle similar to the lifestyle of modern octopuses, lived at depths from 50 to 1000 meters, hunted, depending on the species, either invertebrates or fish, moved according to the reactive principle, drawing water into the body cavity and then using it to pushing out. On the territory of the region, belemnite shells are found everywhere where rivers (Volga, Unzha, Vetluga, Viga, Mezha, Vokhma, etc.) or people reveal layers dating back to the Jurassic period. There are especially many “devil’s fingers” on the banks of the Unzha River; their sizes range from a few centimeters to half a meter in length, but occasionally specimens up to 80 centimeters long are found. Ammonite shells are quite common; they are easily distinguished from the shells of other mollusks by their spirally twisted shell. Ammonites lived at depths of up to 500 meters, feeding on small invertebrates and plankton. The shells of some ammonites found in our region are larger in size than a car wheel.

At the end of the Jurassic period (150 - 140 million years ago), the sea retreated to the south and our region was populated by terrestrial flora and fauna.

Cretaceous period

The Cretaceous period began 135 - 130 million years ago and lasted approximately 70 million. The beginning of the period was marked by the retreat of the sea, which in the middle of the Cretaceous (about 100 million years ago) again flooded the Kostroma region for about 10 - 20 million years. The climate in the region both in the “sea” period and in the “land” period (for 40 - 50 million years Cretaceous period) belonged either to warm subtropical or to cooler temperate; serious cooling began only in the final part of the period.

Palynological (palynology is the science of plant pollen) studies conducted in our region in the 60s of the 20th century allow us to judge the nature of the climate. The beginning and middle of the Cretaceous period is characterized by subtropical vegetation, it is represented mainly by two divisions: conifers (Pinopsida) and ferns (Polypodiophita). Among the conifers there are species of the well-known spruce (Picea) and pine (Pinus) genera, although they are represented by more heat-loving species; In addition to them, trees of the genus Araucaria grew, which is currently preserved in South America. Ginkgo plants are quite widespread and have been growing in our region for two eras (Paleozoic and Mesozoic). The chalk ferns are very numerous and diverse: these are plants of the grasshopper family (Ophioglossumaceae) - in our time, mainly tropical plants with forked leaves up to four meters long (one rare species from the genus Ophioglossum grows in our region); family of osmundaceae (Osmundaceae) - currently three species of this family grow in the Caucasus and Primorye (the leaves of some reach a length of three meters); in the Cretaceous period there were many tree-like forms of these plants. In addition to those listed, pollen from the fern families was discovered: Mtonia, Coniopteris, Hausmania, Plebopteris, Gleichenia, etc. In the second half of the period, the climate became less humid and a number of fern families died out. Climate change has led to the emergence of mesophytic (less demanding moisture) plants. In the Upper Cretaceous on the territory of our region, most likely, flowering plants could have appeared, which currently dominate all climatic zones, however, there is no exact data indicating the appearance of flowering plants in our region.

An interesting fact is that in our region practically no remains of representatives of the Cretaceous fauna have been discovered, primarily ancient reptiles (giant lizards) and mammals. Paleobotanists N.A. Dobrutskaya and V.V. Filippova, who in the early 60s of the 20th century examined soil samples from wells taken in the eastern part of the region, note: “The section here is almost entirely represented by faunally mute deposits, extremely uniform in composition, which makes it difficult to identify and trace units and layers in them according to lithological features" (28). However, the warm climate and abundance of vegetation at that time created all the conditions for the existence of a diverse fauna. The climatic conditions of the Kostroma region at that time were similar to the climate of the then Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Far East, on the territory of which abundant remains of various reptiles (brontosaurs, stegosaurs, pteranodons, etc.) are found. Consequently, if the climate and vegetation of these areas at the end of the Mesozoic were similar, then we can confidently assume that the above-mentioned land lizards most likely lived in our region after the retreat of the Cretaceous Sea.

The fauna of the Cretaceous period is mainly represented by reptiles (Reptilia). Reptiles of the early Cretaceous period dominated land, water and air. Since very few remains were found in the Kostroma region that reliably confirm the presence of terrestrial lizards and other reptiles, we can assume the habitat of certain species only based on similar climatic conditions in other regions of Eurasia. The first reason why we do not have evidence of habitation in our region large reptiles, is that there were practically no scientific paleozoological expeditions on the territory of our region and all data on living organisms was obtained incidentally, as a result of geological exploration work. The second reason is the complexity of the research, because The overwhelming majority of Jurassic and Cretaceous layers are located at a depth of 20 to 100 meters and only in rare places (for example, near the village of Isupova, Susaninsky district) lie close to the surface. However, based on data obtained in other regions, we can speak with a high degree of confidence about the large terrestrial and aquatic reptiles that lived in our country during the Cretaceous period.

The most famous reptiles of that time included dinosaurs, which are usually divided into two large orders: lizard-hipped and ornithischian. Among the latter, a stegosaurus could live in our region - a herbivorous lizard that reached 9 meters in length, famous for its bony plates on its back and tail. Iguanodons could live - reptiles up to 12 meters in length, moving on their hind limbs and feeding on plant foods. At the final stage of the dominance of reptiles from herbivorous dinosaurs, our region most likely could have been inhabited by the ubiquitous Triceratops - lizards that moved on four limbs, up to 9 meters long and weighing about 5 tons, famous for their bone collar that covered the neck and three horns ( one on the nose and two above the eyes). Lizard-pelvic most likely could be represented by the following genera: Tarbosaurs - predatory dinosaurs, reaching 6 - 7 meters in height, with a large skull and one row of sharp teeth, moving on powerful hind limbs (the forelimbs were small and performed auxiliary functions); prosauropods are herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs, with an elongated neck and a small head, ranging from 1 to 7 meters in length. Most likely, we also had flying lizards - pterosaurs, in particular, the widespread pterodactyls. In the process of evolution, the forelimbs of flying lizards turned into wings, reaching a span of 10 centimeters (Rhamphorhynchus) to 12 meters (Pteranodon). In the Cretaceous period, birds that appeared in the Jurassic became increasingly widespread; True, many of them, covered with sparse feathers and with a toothy mouth instead of a beak, looked very little like modern birds. Mammals in the Cretaceous are represented by four orders, but all their representatives had common features: in appearance they are very similar to a rat, from 10 to 30 centimeters in length.

The sea, which covered the Kostroma region for part of the Cretaceous period, was quite shallow. It connected the water area of ​​the seas located on the site of the modern Arctic Ocean, and the water area of ​​the current Caspian, Black and Azov seas. The sea was dominated by cephalopods and brachiopods, and the number of species of bony fish that appeared at the beginning of the period increased significantly.

At the end of the Cretaceous (about 75 million years ago), changing environmental conditions (according to some - cooling, according to others - global warming) led to the complete disappearance of all dinosaurs, some mammals and mollusks. The composition of vegetation changed radically: the gymnosperms that dominated the Mesozoic gave way to more adaptable angiosperms. The reasons why such dramatic climate change has occurred are unknown. Similar changes have occurred many times in the history of our planet, and there are a large number of hypotheses on this subject. According to one of them, the Earth changed its angle of inclination relative to the Sun, which led to a change in climatic zones and a global change in flora and fauna. According to another hypothesis, the climate on the planet changed as a result of the fall of an asteroid in Central America.

Paleogene

The Paleogene period began approximately 60 - 65 million years ago and lasted about 40 million years. The difficulty in obtaining data for this period is that on the territory of the region there are almost completely no layers dating back to this time: the layers of the Cretaceous period are immediately overlain by layers of the Quaternary period.

During the Paleogene period, several strong transgressions occurred, but it is impossible to say for sure whether the sea reached our region. Geologist V.M. Sinitsyn notes that the seashore was located on the territory of modern Nizhny Novgorod region(29). The Kostroma region at that time, apparently, was a hilly plain. The climate of that time was significantly different from the modern one, because... The territory of our region was in a zone of warm tropical climate. Most likely, it was similar to the modern Mediterranean and could resemble the climate of present-day Italy. V.M. Sinitsyn suggests that during the Paleogene period in central Russia, during the coldest time of the year, the temperature rarely dropped below +10 degrees Celsius (now the average January temperatures are approximately -12 degrees). Summer temperatures on average ranged from + 25 to + 30. Up to 1000 mm of precipitation fell per year (in our time, the average for the region is 500 - 600 mm) (30).

In the Paleocene (first epoch Paleogene period, 60 - 50 million years ago) the flora of the Kostroma region resembled the vegetation of some modern Mediterranean islands (for example, Sardinia, Sicily), with the only difference that our vegetation did not lack moisture. V.M. Sinitsyn characterizes the flora of that time Central Russia like this: “In the central zone of the European part of the USSR<...>Paleocene and Eocene vegetation was somewhat less xerophilic. In it, the leading role also belonged to palm trees, myricaceae, myrtaceae, laurels, hollies and other evergreens, although the importance of subtropical conifers (southern pines, sequoias, cypress) and broad-leaved species (oaks, chestnuts, hickories) relative to more southern regions was more noticeable" ( 31). In the Oligocene, the third epoch of the Paleogene (56 - 44 million years ago), there was a slight cooling and a decrease in moisture content, which affected the vegetation (however, the climate was still much milder than now). V.M. Sinitsyn writes that the northern part of central Russia “was covered with coniferous-deciduous forests and pine forests. In coniferous-deciduous forests, conifers were represented more by pine and less by taxodia, and deciduous oak-chestnut-beech and walnut-hickory associations. In the forests of Northern Europe, catkins were especially numerous, and their number was steadily increasing towards the end of the era. Evergreen relics in these forests persisted throughout the Oligocene” (32).

In the north of the European part of Russia there are practically no finds of remains of Paleogene and Neogene fauna; in particular, in our region this is due to the fact that there are no layers dating back to the first two periods of the Cenozoic era. Therefore, speaking about the Paleogene fauna, we will focus on the central part of the Russian Plain, where some finds were made. In the Upper Eocene (56 - 50 million years ago), the so-called brontothere fauna dominated the territory of our region. It received this name because of the widespread animals of that time - brontotheres. Brontotheres belonged to the order of odd-toed ungulates (like modern horses and rhinoceroses) and could reach the size of an elephant. Based on the structure of their dental apparatus, the researchers concluded that brontotheres fed on soft and lush swamp vegetation. Probably, they (like modern hippopotamuses) could spend quite a long time in the water.

In addition to them, there were quite widespread aminodonts- animals the size of rhinoceros that fed on semi-aquatic vegetation, and anthracotherium- mammals ranging in size from wild boar to rhinoceros, ancestors of hippopotamuses, who led a semi-aquatic lifestyle. In the Upper Oligocene, the brontothere fauna was replaced by the indricotherium fauna, named after the largest land mammal of that time, indricotherium. This animal, weighing up to 25 tons and up to 6 meters high, was the ancestor of modern rhinoceroses and lived almost throughout Eurasia. ate plant foods and lived in small groups of 5 - 8 individuals. Indricothere females gave birth to one young, which they carried for approximately 18 months. Due to their size, they had practically no natural enemies. Some researchers believe that the indricotherium fauna lived much south of the modern Kostroma region, but, most likely, in certain time periods of the Paleogene indricotheriums were found on the territory of our region. At the end of the Paleogene period (30 - 25 million years ago), the first apes appeared, and, apparently, lived in the Kostroma region.

During the Paleogene period river valleys and swampy areas of the Russian Plain, including in our region, turtles and crocodiles lived everywhere - representatives of reptiles who were lucky enough to survive global change climate in the Cretaceous period.

Paleogene mammals were quite slow and clumsy, with strange growths on the skull and, as a rule, with a relatively small brain volume. In the second half of the Paleogene, the ancestors of modern dogs and cats appeared. The predators of that time look as bizarre as the herbivores; one of the largest is Endrusarchus, a beast weighing up to one ton, its head resembled that of a wolf, the physique of a bear, and there were hooves at the ends of its paws. Presumably endrusarchus led night image life. At the end of the Paleogene, the most common predator was amphicelon, which in appearance resembled modern wolves, but, unlike them, was somewhat larger and had a more primitive brain.

At the end of the Paleogene, the climate became colder and drier, which led to a gradual change in flora and fauna in our region.

Neogene

In the Neogene, the second period of the Cenozoic (25 - 2 million years ago), a global change in the outlines and sizes of sea basins occurred. Due to the general cooling (at the beginning of the period, complete glaciation of Antarctica occurs), the level of the world's oceans has dropped significantly. However, despite the cold snap, in the European part of Russia the climate was quite favorable: average temperatures in the cold season ranged from + 4 - 6 degrees Celsius, in the warm season - from + 20 to + 25 degrees.

At the end of the Pliocene (the last epoch of the Neogene), the climatic zonation resembled the modern one, although the boundaries were somewhat different; zones of tundra and taiga appeared, although the southern border of the tundra ran much further north than now.

The vegetation of the Neogene period, especially the Miocene (the first Neogene epoch, which began approximately 25 million years ago), in the north-central part of Russia already resembled modern vegetation. In the Kostroma region 15 - 17 million years ago, coniferous vegetation completely predominated. At this time, most likely, various types of pine and spruce grew, larch was quite widely represented, metasequoia could probably also grow - conifer tree up to 50 meters in height, living up to 1500 years. However, in the Miocene, broad-leaved trees were still widespread: maple, oak, elm. Tropical plants, in particular myrtle, dogwood, and holly, could still be preserved in the Pliocene plant communities. “In the forests of the northern zone, the content of boreal conifers increases: spruce, fir, hemlock; broad-leaved species are becoming less diverse, but in them, as shown by the latest data from V.I. Belkin (1963), relicts of heat-loving flora – walnuts, taxodiaceae – were still preserved<...>. In the southern province, the main formation is broad-leaved pine forests, also almost devoid of evergreens; the role of taxodium in them declines sharply” (33).

In the Pliocene era (25 - 12 million years ago), the vegetation of the northern part of the Kostroma region resembled the modern taiga of the Amur region: “Dark coniferous forests grew on the territory of the northern and partly middle parts of the Russian Plain.<...>Plant communities at the beginning of the era were much richer than the modern European-Siberian taiga and even bore little resemblance to it, but already reminded many of the taiga of Northwestern America or the lower reaches of the Amur River. “Taiga” forests included spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, larch, maple, linden, ash, mulberry, birch, alder, etc.” (34). However, broad-leaved forests were still quite widespread, which in the Pliocene probably occupied the southern part of our region, where the main plant species were most likely oak, hornbeam and elm.

At the end of the Paleogene - beginning of the Neogene, the evolution of animals everywhere went in the direction of adapting to fast running. This was facilitated by the vast steppe spaces of Eurasia. As a result of gradual climate change, the indricotherium fauna gives way to the anchytherium fauna. It got its name from a small animal that lived in warm deciduous forests - anchitheria, the ancestor of horses. These animals could also live on the territory of our region; Anchiterium looked nothing like a horse - small in stature, covered with fairly long hair, with claws instead of hooves. At the end of the Miocene (about 9 - 8 million years ago), the anchiterium fauna gradually gave way to the hipparion fauna. A characteristic species of this fauna was the hipparion - a small three-toed horse, up to 120 centimeters high. The hipparion's teeth are covered with a thick layer of durable enamel, which indicates that it ate fairly coarse plant foods. Several species of Hipparion existed in the Pliocene; in our region, most likely, Hipparion primigenium lived, adapted to life in the forest zone; The species' legs could bend at a more acute angle, allowing it to move through tall grass and hummocky swamps. In the Middle Pliocene, deer and bulls appeared, various species of which, most likely, could have lived in our region. Predators were represented by wolves, whose ancestors appeared in the Eocene. Wolves of the second half of the Pliocene are practically indistinguishable in appearance from modern ones. Of the large predators in our region, the saber-toothed tiger (Machairodus) could presumably live, which in body structure resembled modern tiger, but was somewhat larger, had a shorter tail and characteristic long exposed fangs (up to 15 - 20 centimeters long). Saber-toothed tiger hunted various large animals living at that time, for example, the widespread various species of rhinoceroses.

At the end of the Neogene (about 2 million years ago), the climate gradually became colder, which caused a gradual change in flora and fauna. The next period became one of the most severe in the history of our planet.

Quaternary (anthropogenic)

The Quaternary period of the Cenozoic era began about two million years ago and continues to this day. At the beginning of the Anthropocene period (in the Pleistocene), the climate continued to change, and the third global glaciation in its history began on earth. (In total, in the entire history of the Earth, various scientists have identified three very strong cold snaps: the first - in the Vendian, 540 million years ago, the second - in the Permian period, the third - in the Anthropocene.) Although the Quaternary period is the most studied, there are still many questions remaining about the time and nature of glaciation. Glaciation is understood as a set of long-existing glaciers, the spread of glaciers on the earth's surface. In the Kostroma region there are many rocks that were formed outside the territory of our region and were transported here by a glacier. Together with rocks, the glacier brought to us some metals, in particular, iron, copper, and also gold, which is found in small quantities in the northeast of the region (Bogovarovsky and Vokhomsky districts).

There are many theories about the origin of glaciers; one of the most popular now is the theory according to which glaciation began at the end of the Neogene - the beginning of the Anthropocene (about 3 million years ago) due to a change in the axis of the planet’s inclination relative to the Sun.

The territory occupied by the Kostroma region was subject to four large-scale glaciations in the Quaternary period. The first of them, the so-called Oka glaciation, supposedly began 600 thousand years ago (in the Pleistocene). The glacier moved from Scandinavia all the way to the Oka River. There is no exact data on whether the Oka Glacier completely covered the territory of the region or only its western part; The difficulty in figuring this out is that later glaciers destroyed traces of earlier glaciation, but, most likely, the glacier completely occupied the entire region. All glaciers that covered our region in the past belong to the so-called lowland glaciers. If we draw an analogy with modern lowland glaciers covering most of Antarctica and part of Greenland, we can assume that the thickness of the Oka Glacier in the region could reach 200 - 300 meters. The glacier moved in so-called tongues at a speed of approximately 100 meters per year, the movement was carried out under the influence of gravity (the upper layers pressed on the lower ones, and the glacier captured new territories). A glacier was formed from snow that fell during the cold season and did not have time to melt during the short, cold summer; after some time, the snow was compressed and formed a dense ice mass.

Periods of advance of glaciers were followed by times when they retreated, which was caused by temporary warming of the climate; The process of glacier retreat could take tens or even hundreds of years. “During the summer seasons, especially the warming eras - the interglacial, stormy streams ran down from the surface and along the edges of the glaciers. They carried a mass of turbid material washed away from the glacier, depositing it in periglacial floods, forming powerful ridges of rubble, sand and silt. These ridges are called fluvioglacial, i.e. born from streams of glaciers. Periglacial floods were very extensive and sometimes turned from stagnant lakes into wide streams. Such spills broke into adjacent hollows and upper reaches of rivers in the southern direction, forming catastrophic floods” (35). After the Oka glaciation, a long interglacial period began (it supposedly lasted about 100 thousand years). It is difficult to say what appearance our region had during this period; most likely, then it resembled a modern forest-tundra with its plains overgrown with grassy vegetation and rare islands of forest.

The second glaciation, which began approximately 400 thousand years ago, covered the Russian Plain all the way to the Dnieper, which is why it received the name Dnieper. During this glaciation, the Kostroma region most likely looked like “endless icy desert. The snow-covered expanse stretched for hundreds, thousands of kilometers, with nowhere to rest the eye. Not a tree, not a bush, not a rock, not a single living creature... Only an uneven, white surface and an unclear, blurry horizon” (36). Especially many deposits of the Dnieper glacier have been preserved in the Manturovsky, Mezhevsky, Ponazyrevsky and Sharya regions, where loams and clays with gravel predominate, formed after the glacier melted, releasing the soil that it brought with it.

The next glaciation, which began about 200 thousand years ago, was the Moscow one - so named after southern border, passing through the territory of the Moscow region. The Moscow glacier covered only the western part of our region (from Nerekhta to Makaryevsky districts in the south and Kologrivsky in the north). “Slowly moving along the slopes and plains from the centers of origin, the glacier did colossal work, dragging huge masses of loose soil and rounded stones and boulders. These masses of terrigenous material, deposited by glaciers, are usually called moraines” (37). The thickness of the moraine deposits of the Moscow Glacier in some places in the Susaninsky and Sudislavsky regions reaches eight meters.

Following the interglacial period, another glacial cycle began. Different researchers estimate the time of its onset differently, but generally call the figure from 50 to 30 thousand years ago. This glacier was named Valdai glacier, based on the southern border of its distribution - the Valdai Upland. The formation of the modern appearance of our region occurred precisely under the influence of the Valdai glaciation. About 12 thousand years ago, the glacier began to melt, which probably lasted one to two thousand years. At this time, the main reservoirs of our region appeared - the Galich and Chukhloma lakes: “A noticeable climate warming associated with the release of depressions from ice dates back to about 7500 BC. It was during this period that lakes like Galich and Chukhloma formed. Consequently, the age of Lake Galich is approximately 9500 years” (38). The rivers Volga, Kostroma, Unzha, Vetluga, Neya and others gradually emerged from the flows of water from the melting glacier. The first two thousand years after the departure of the Valdai Glacier, most likely, the Kostroma Lowland (the modern territory of the Kostroma Reservoir, but the water level was at least 4 - 5 meters higher than the modern one), as well as the entire southern part of the Makaryevsky region, were completely flooded with water. Numerous bodies of water became swampy over time, and swamps appeared, in which peat is currently mined.

The vegetation of the Quaternary period that covered the territory of the Kostroma region over the past two million years has changed greatly - from species represented in the tundra zone (dwarf birch, alder, various types of sedges) to species of the deciduous forest zone (oak, hornbeam, maple, linden). Events of the Quaternary era in northern Europe (alternation of glacial and interglacial phases and multiple climatic changes in post-glacial times) were the most important factor that determined the conditions for the formation of vegetation cover in the Kostroma region. Due to the sharp cooling that occurred at the beginning of the Anthropocene period, heat-loving plants of the Tertiary period were forced to retreat to the south. Only in some places, within the glacial zone, where there was no ice cover, could individual islands of tertiary vegetation (refugia) remain. Analysis of pollen obtained by drilling the soil showed that in the region during the period between the Dnieper and Moscow glaciations, the following grew: European and Siberian spruce, Scots pine, warty birch, the broad-leaved species were dominated by hornbeam and heart-leaved linden. During the period between the Moscow and Valdai glaciations, several phases can be distinguished, during which certain tree species dominated. The first phase is characterized by the dominance of spruce forests (Norway spruce and Siberian spruce, as well as numerous transitional, hybrid forms between them). In the 2nd phase, some climate warming occurs, which caused a change in vegetation cover. Coniferous species were replaced by broad-leaved species: pedunculate oak, gray alder, rough and smooth elm, ash-leaved maple, heart-leaved linden. The 3rd phase is characterized by a more humid climate, which is associated with the displacement of oak and elm groves by spruce trees. In the 4th phase, due to climate cooling, spruce-pine forests with a small amount of linden. 5th phase – further cooling occurs, therefore oak and elm completely disappear from the territory of the region. The 6th phase is pre-glacial, when birch and pine dominate.

The vegetation cover that currently exists in the region was formed after the Valdai glaciation. However, the climate of the region about two thousand years ago was most likely warmer than it is now. This is evidenced by the remains of hornbeam, oak and maple pollen found in Quaternary deposits throughout the region *.

* At the turn of the 16th - 17th centuries, another climate cooling occurred, which caused the retreat of broad-leaved forests further to the south, and they were replaced by species characteristic of taiga zone(Siberian spruce, larch, common pine). At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries, another warming began, as evidenced by the newly appeared species of broad-leaved trees, in particular - oak groves, which are still located in the lower reaches of the Kostroma River (young generative plants predominate here, the maximum age of oaks does not exceed 200 years ).

Quite often in the territory of most of the region, larch pollen is found in pits, which indicates that this species previously occupied a significant part of the forests of our region. Currently, larch grows under natural conditions only in the Makaryevsky, Parfenyevsky and Mezhevsky districts.

Currently, species that lived during a colder climate grow in our region; These include cloudberries, princely mushrooms, and some types of sedges. Now the distribution area of ​​these plants is much to the north of our region, but in some places of the Kostroma region they can be found; Thus, cloudberry grows in the territory of Kostroma and Makaryevsky, and knyazhenika is found in Manturovo and Pavinsky districts. In addition to northern species, in the Kostroma region there are areas where species characteristic of warmer zones grow - refugia. Such islands of heat-loving vegetation can be found in the floodplain of the Unzha River (usually on the left bank of the river - in the Manturovo and Makaryevsky regions).

The fauna of our region in the Quaternary period was incomparably more diverse than today. Most of today's animals lived with us at the beginning of the Quaternary period (except for species such as the brown hare, wild boar, and lynx; although these animals most likely could have visited us during periods of relative warming during the interglacial period). The most famous representative of the animal world that lived in our region in the Quaternary period, of course, is the mammoth.

The mammoth (Mammontheus primigenius) was the most major representative mammals that lived on the territory of the modern region in the Quaternary period (and most likely throughout the Cenozoic era). The mammoth descended from huge elephants that weighed up to ten tons and lived about two million years ago in southern Europe and northern Africa. After the climate cooled, they were replaced by a smaller elephant - Trogontherium, which lived in a temperate climate, from which the early mammoth appeared. The largest domestic specialist on mammoths and mammoth fauna N.K. Vereshchagin writes: “The hairy giant was impressive - his height at the withers reached 3.5 m, weight - up to 6 tons. A large head with a hairy trunk, huge tusks curved up and inward, with small ears overgrown with thick hair sat on a short neck. With long spinous processes of the thoracic vertebrae, the withers protruded noticeably.<...>The tail was short and densely covered with coarse hair. Mammoths were warmly dressed, especially in winter. From the shoulder blades, sides, hips, and belly, hard guard hairs of the dewlap hung almost to the ground - a kind of “skirt” of a meter or more in length.<...>Judging by the partially faded hair collected in different places from the soil and from the skin, the main color tone was yellowish-brown and light brown. Coats of black hair predominated on the withers and tail, as well as in places on the upper legs” (39). Males and females had tusks: “The largest tusks of males reach a length of 400 - 450 cm, with a diameter at the exit from the alveoli of 18 - 19 cm. The weight of such a tusk reaches 100 - 110 kg, but, apparently, there were heavier ones – up to 120 kg” (40). Thanks to the discoveries in the north of Siberia of whole mammoth carcasses preserved in permafrost conditions, we know exactly what they ate: in the summer - young shoots of birch, willow, cattail, sedge, in winter - branches of birch, willow, alder, as well as spruce needles . Most likely, mammoths led a lifestyle similar to modern African and Indian elephants. They lived in small groups of 10 - 15 individuals; old males lived separately from the herd and could join the group only during the rutting period. The oldest female (matriarch) led the herd. Most likely, mammoths, like most northern animals, led a nomadic lifestyle: in winter they went south, and in the summer months they returned north (apparently, they could live in our region all year round).

Numerous bone remains of mammoths (skulls, tusks, skeletal bones and their fragments) were found in all areas of the Kostroma region, which indicates the widespread distribution of “northern elephants” in our region. Sometimes it seems that when deep excavations are carried out, the remains of mammoths can be found almost anywhere. At the end of the 19th century, part of a mammoth shoulder blade was found in Kostroma while digging a ditch on Kalinovskaya Street; Around the same time, water washed a large mammoth pelvic bone from the bank of the river. Kostroma in the Andreevskaya (now Trudovaya) settlement near the Ipatievsky Monastery (41). At the beginning of the 20th century, during the construction of railway bridges across rivers, bones of fossil animals were almost always found, most often mammoths. When lowering the caisson during the construction of a bridge across the river. In Vetluga near the village of Bezneg (in 1904 - 1905), workers discovered a large bone of an unknown animal, possibly a mammoth (42). In Kostroma, when lowering a caisson during the construction of a bridge across the Volga (in 1930), bones of a mammoth, woolly rhinoceros and reindeer were found at a depth of about six meters (43). In some places, mammoth remains are found in particularly large quantities. Geologist A.K. Zhirmunsky noted in 1925: “Glacial fluvioglacial deposits in the river basin. Vetlugi is extremely rich in mammoth remains. Local peasants usually find them in spring time in ravines and in the beds of small rivers flowing into the river. Vetluga" (44). Most often, the remains of mammoths (as well as other animals of the Ice Age) were and are found in steep river banks. In 1910, on the territory of the modern Vokhomsky district, on the steep bank of the Vochka River (a tributary of the Mezhi River), boys from the village of Sosedkovo found a large mammoth tusk. One of those who found it later recalled: “We found a mammoth tusk sticking out of the shore at a depth of ten meters from the top of the bank cliff. The end of the tusk was washed out by spring water, and it stuck out of the water along with the trees. Having looked closely, we distinguished it from the trees by its unusual color and shape. We reported our find to the adults in the village. An inquisitive and well-read peasant D.I. Popov dug up the tusk, and we helped him bring the tusk home to Sosedkovo. The whole village came to see him, and people from other villages came too. The tusk stood in his hallway until 1919, and then it was taken to the local history museum that opened in Vokhma. The tusk was large, human height, about 160 - 170 centimeters long” (45). Mammoths, judging by the abundance of their remains in our country, were very common, and it is difficult to definitely name the reason for their disappearance, which occurred 10 - 8 thousand years ago; most likely, it was caused by a whole complex of unfavorable factors. One of them was probably an increase in the thickness of the snow cover, which even today kills many species (for example, every snowy winter there is a massive death of wild boars). The second factor in the disappearance of mammoths was undoubtedly hunting for them. primitive people, as evidenced by the numerous remains of the bones of these animals at the sites of ancient hunters. It is believed that the last populations of mammoths could have lived on the territory of our country about five thousand years ago.

Along with the mammoth, a number of animals that became extinct around the same time lived in the region. First of all, this is a woolly rhinoceros, with its size and body structure very similar to the modern white rhinoceros living in the central and south africa. The woolly rhinoceros weighed up to three tons and reached a height of 150 - 170 centimeters. “It was a powerful, squat animal with short legs, a large scruff and a relatively long head” (46). Thanks to the finds of frozen carcasses in northern Siberia, it is known that he had very long and thick gray-brown fur. It had two horns on its upper jaw, and the front one could reach one and a half meters in length. The woolly rhinoceros fed on grassy vegetation and young shoots of bushes. The remains of woolly rhinoceroses are found quite often in our region*.

* At the end of the 19th century, a rhinoceros skull was discovered on the territory of the modern Sharya region near the village of Polovinnaya (47); on the river Nole (a tributary of the Veksa Galichskaya) near the village of Bochinok in the Galich district - a skull and other bones (48); in 1928 - 1930 in a sand quarry near the Rassolovo railway station in Galich district at a depth of five meters - bones (49); in the Krasnoselsky district in the late 20s. 20th century in a gravel quarry in the “Batyga” ravine at a depth of six meters - a rhinoceros vertebra (50), etc. Finds of woolly rhinoceros bones are also known in the territory of modern Yaroslavl, Ivanovo and Vologda regions.

Most likely, in our region at the same time as mammoths, there lived a wide-horned deer, weighing up to 500 kilograms and having an antlers span of up to three meters. The remains of these animals are found in the Leningrad and Vologda regions; perhaps it was his remains that were found in Nerekhta district in mid-19th century *.

* “Close to the village. Gzina, Kovalevskaya parish, the head of a primitive deer with antlers was found at the bottom of the lake. Stored at Moscow University" (51).

Reindeer is also one of the contemporaries of the mammoth. “Among the few surviving large species of the mammoth group,” writes N.K. Vereshchagin, - the reindeer is remarkable for its ecological plasticity and morphological constancy. His constitution contained such features that allowed him to survive all the troubles of the glacial and post-glacial eras” (52). Reindeer lived in our region from the Ice Age until the 20s. XX century * (in the XX century we had a population of the forest form of reindeer). Along with the remains of other animals that lived during the Ice Age, we often found the bones of reindeer**.

* Back in 1926, zoologist A. Schummer noted: “Reindeer occasionally appear in marshy areas in the northern districts of our province” (53).

** At the end of the 20s. XX century in the Kostroma region in a gravel pit near the village of Koryakovo, along with the remains of a mammoth, rhinoceros, horse and giant deer, the bones of reindeer were found (54).

To this day, only one large animal that lived at the same time as the mammoth has survived in the Kostroma region is the elk. Moose appeared at the end of the Neogene period, approximately 2.5 million years ago, and inhabited the territory of the modern region during one of the interglacial periods. We also had an ancient bull called aurochs. There are known finds of their remains in modern Krasnoselsky and Nerekhta regions *.

* At the end of the 19th century, near the village of Vityazevo (in the former Sidorovskaya volost, now the territory of the Krasnoselsky district) on the banks of the Volga, “the frontal part with the horns of a primitive bull” was found (55). In 1926 on the river. Nerekhta, above the village of Neznanova, local found “a part of a skull with horns belonging to a primitive bull” (56).

Usually a bull is called aurochs, which was found in the south of the Russian Plain; its northern subspecies lived on the territory of the Kostroma region, which could differ in color and length of fur.

During the time period between the Oka and Dnieper glaciations, the musk ox also lived in our region - an animal that really resembled “something in between a sheep and a bull. A large head on a thick neck, a stocky body on short legs with strong small hooves. Light horns with thick swells on the forehead descend in strong hooks from the sides of the head, reminiscent of the horns of an African buffalo. The musk ox's robe is powerful, brown and coffee tones, consists of the finest curled purple undercoat up to 10 - 12 cm high and guard hairs 20 cm or more long. On the sides and on the belly it hangs down with a long skirt fringe, covering the forearms and lower legs” (57). It seems that the only discovery of the remains of a musk ox happened in 1951 in the Knyagininsky village council of the Buysky district, on the Koryoga River, when during the construction of an inter-collective farm hydroelectric power station at a depth of four meters from the surface of the earth, builders dug up many bones of long-extinct animals, including a “well-preserved skull muskox" (58). Currently, the musk ox lives in the far north - on the Taimyr Peninsula, on Wrangel Island, in Greenland and in Canada.

Of course, in addition to herbivores, there were also those who hunted them. Of the large predators that lived at that time, only the brown bear, wolf and lynx are now preserved in the Kostroma region. But in the early Anthropocene, our region was inhabited by more large predators, for example, a cave lion, which could reach a length of three meters and a weight of about three hundred kilograms. The cave lion only very vaguely resembled a modern one African lion and, most likely, like the modern Amur tiger, led single image life. He most likely hunted deer and bulls that lived in our region. The remains of a cave lion were found in our region in the 20s of the 20th century on the territory of the modern Galich region, in a sand quarry, near the Rossolovo railway station (the remains of the lion were identified by V.I. Gromova, a researcher at the Leningrad Zoological Museum of the USSR Academy of Sciences) (59) .

A cave bear also lived in the region. N.K. Vereshchagin writes about him this way: “The beast was huge, shaggy, with a strongly convex forehead, a high front and a low-slung back. Judging by the skulls of almost half a meter in length and the size of the tubular bones, large cave bears reached a weight of 800 - 900 kg” (60). The remains of a cave bear were discovered in the modern Sharya region at the end of the 19th century *.

* “On the steep bank of the river. Vetlugi near the village. Vysokov, Blagoveshchenskaya parish, on the Polivanov estate<...>found<...>femur of a cave bear" (61).

The cave bear lived in our region, most likely, throughout the entire anthropogenic period; The last representatives of this species disappeared, apparently, no later than 8 - 7 thousand years ago. Judging by the structure of the skeleton, the cave bear could reach a weight of about 500 kilograms. Although these animals are classified as predators, after studying the structure of the dental apparatus, the researchers came to the conclusion that the cave bear ate mainly plant foods; in addition, due to its massive physique, it was unlikely to actively hunt.

In the Quaternary period, many species of birds lived in our region, which currently either do not nest in the region at all, or are only present on migration. Even at the beginning of the 20th century, bean goose, gray and white-fronted geese nested on the territory of the Kostroma province, and since the middle of the 20th century, these birds have been visiting us only on flights from their wintering grounds (from the countries of Western and Southwestern Europe) to their nesting sites (Arkhangelsk region, Yamal Peninsula , Taimyr, etc.). At the same time, the whooper swan was also seen in the Kostroma region; now it is sometimes observed on migration here in late April - early May. The previously widespread gray crane has become very rare; at present, isolated cases of its nesting are noted in our region.

In the rivers of the Kostroma region, formed after the Valdai glaciation, there were many species of fish - Russian sturgeon, sterlet, and beluga (weighing up to 1.5 tons), which came to spawn. However, since the mid-50s of the 20th century, in connection with the construction of the Gorky State District Power Plant, almost all types sturgeon fish(except for sterlet, which is still found occasionally) have disappeared from our rivers.

Another fact that cannot be ignored is the appearance of ancient people in the Kostroma region. Probably, the very first groups of people came to our territory during one of the interglacial periods (possibly between the Dnieper and Moscow glaciations, 200 - 150 thousand years ago). At this time, there were all the necessary prerequisites for human life, namely a temperate climate and an abundance of animals that could be hunted. In 1926 V.I. Smirnov suggested: “It is unknown when the first person appeared in the Kostroma region. It is possible that he lived here in a different environment than now, with a different climate, plants and fauna, following the mammoth and other animals that constituted his main food during the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic). At that time, man had only just mastered the art of roughly processing stone with large chips, making knives, spearheads, wedges, scrapers, etc. from it. The remains of a mammoth and a rhinoceros were discovered<...>but so far no traces of a person of the same time have been found in the form of sites with ash, with remains of bones, coals and roughly processed stone tools” (62). This assumption is shared by modern archaeologists. A.E. Leontiev writes: “On the territory of the modern Kostroma region, Paleolithic monuments are not known. However, this region is part of the so-called North-Eastern zone, or the province of the Russian Plain, where, due to the natural and climatic conditions that developed in the Upper Paleolithic after the Riess-Würm glaciation, the Paleolithic population could live. Several monuments in different regions this province became widely known - Sungir near the city of Vladimir, Karacharovo on the river. Oke (Murom), Kapovaya Cave and Talitsky's site in the Urals, Bear Cave and Byzovaya?? parking on the river Pechore. The relative proximity of the Sungir site suggests that the left tributaries of the Upper Volga could also have been populated already in the Upper Paleolithic (approximately 25 - 15 thousand years ago). Judging by the reconstruction of the natural environment, the period of maximum Valdai cooling was accompanied by the formation of a zone of periglacial forest-steppe, spreading in a wide arc along the periglacial tundra and the ice sheet itself. This zone also included the territory of the Kostroma region. Under the current conditions, groups of hunter-gatherers developed the forest-steppe, moving behind herds of nomadic animals. An idea of ​​the hunting activities of Paleolithic hunters can be formed from the faunal remains in Sungir, including the mountain hare, lemming, wolf, arctic fox, wolverine, brown bear, cave lion, mammoth, horse, reindeer, saiga, bison, birds" (63) . Thus, we can assume with a considerable degree of confidence that Neanderthals lived on the territory of our region in the Upper Paleolithic, migrating into the interglacial period after animals. The main reason The reason why the remains of Neanderthals have not yet been discovered in the region is, of course, the action of glaciers that cut off the upper layers of sedimentary rocks, thereby destroying the few traces of the activity of ancient people in the Paleolithic era. The second reason is that a significant part of the Kostroma region has not yet been sufficiently explored by archaeologists. As V.I. wrote Smirnov: “The discovery of traces of Paleolithic man, possible in our latitudes<...>would be a very great achievement of local history” (64).

Unconditional evidence of human life in our region dates back to the Mesolithic period. “The oldest archaeological monuments known in the Kostroma region,” writes archaeologist K.I. Komarov, - belong to the Mesolithic era (middle stone Age), which on the Russian Plain dates back to the 9th - 1st floor. 6th millennium BC, which basically coincides with the boreal climatic period of the Holocene” (65). The oldest Mesolithic human sites are known in the area of ​​the Kostroma Lowland (Zaretskaya part of the modern Kostroma region), in the Kostroma River basin, on the shores of the Galich and Chukhloma lakes. The arrival of modern people to the territory of our region approximately coincides with the time of the extinction of mammoths in our region and may be one of the reasons for the disappearance of them and other animals of the Ice Age. We can confidently believe that the first people in our region for at least several centuries existed together with representatives of the mammoth fauna (mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, giant deer, musk ox, cave bear, cave lion etc.), which were the main objects of their hunt. The increasing number of people had to be provided with a sufficient amount of game for people to hunt. Gradually destroying animals in one area, man moved further and further north, occupying new lands. Thus, we can assume with a high degree of confidence that modern man appeared in the Kostroma region shortly after the Valdai glaciation, approximately 9 - 10 thousand years ago.

We briefly learned about the natural history of our region over the past four hundred million years. It should be noted that entire eras of this vast time period remain completely unknown to us. We know only in the most general terms about many events that took place on the territory of our region in the distant past. By studying the processes that took place in ancient times, we can predict the events that await us in the future. Human influence on the environment is becoming stronger every year, and only knowledge of the patterns of natural development in the past can help a person live in new conditions.