FIGURE 1. Schematic map showing the position of the studied sections.
FIGURE 2. Main studied sections of Quaternary deposits in north-western Armenia (modified after Shalaeva et al., 2019).
FIGURE 3. Characteristic palynomorphs of the Quaternary deposits of the Ani Formation, north-western Armenia. 1. Abies sp.; 2. Podocarpus sp.; 3. Taxodiaceae; 4. Tsuga canadensis; 5. Tsuga diversifolia; 6. Tsuga aculeata; 7. Tsuga sieboldii; 8. Picea sect. Eupicea; 9. Picea sect. Omorica; 10. Pinus sp.; 11. Pterocarya aff. stenoptera; 12. Carya sp. 13. Juglans sp.; 14. Betula sp.; 15. Acer sp.; 16. Fagus sp.; 17. cf. Altingia; 18. Liquidambar sp.; 19. Caryophyllaceae; 20. Boraginaceae; 21. Onograceae; 22. Scabiosa sp.; 23. Chenopodiaceae; 24. Poaceae; 25. Ephedra sp.; 26. Pediastrum; 27. Spirogyra; 28. Botryococcus; 29. unidentified.
FIGURE 4. Palynological subdivision of the late Early - early Middle Quaternary deposits of north-western Armenia. Stratigraphic positions and ranges of the sequences are tentatively modeled based on data from Trifonov et al. (2016, 2017) and Shalaeva et al. (2019). I - Krasar; II - Jradzor (Shirak Province); III - Kaps; IV - Haykavan; V - Voghji; VI - Arapi; VII - Marmashen; VIII - Ardenis; 1 - Podocarpus,Sciadopitys, Tsuga, Taxodium; 2 - Picea, Abies, Cedrus; 3 - Pinus, 4 - Betula, Salix, Alnus; 5 - broad-leaved trees; 6 - Ephedra, 7 - Artemisia, Chenopodiaceae; 8 - arboreal pollen realtive to total pollen sum.
FIGURE 5. Bivalve molluscs from the late Early and early Middle Quaternary deposits of north-western Armenia. 1. Pisidium (Odhneripisidium) stewarti, GIN-1142/151; 2. Pisidium (Neopisidium) moitessierianum, GIN-1142/152; 3. Pisidium (Europisidium) cf. tenuilineatum, GIN-1172/19; 4. Euglesa (Cingulipisidium) nitida, GIN-1142/154; 5. Euglesa (Cyclocalyx) obtusale, GIN-1142/155; 6. Euglesa (Henslowiana) henslowana, GIN-1142/156; 7. Euglesa (Euglesa) casertana ponderosa, GIN-1142/157; 8. Dreissena diluvii, GIN-1172/20. 1-2, 4-7 - Haykadzor, bed 4; 3 - Voghji, bed 8; 8 - Voghji, bed 6. a, outer surface of the right valve; b, outer surface of the left valve; c, inner surface of the right valve; d, inner surface of the left valve.
FIGURE 6. Gastropods from the late Early Quaternary deposits of north-western Armenia. 1. ?Pyrgorientalia sp., GIN-1172/1; 2-4. Falsipyrgula sieversi, GIN-1172/2-4; 5. Falsipyrgula shadini, GIN-1172/5; 6. Falsipyrgula cf. shuetti, GIN-1172/6; 7. ?Falsipyrgula cf. bakhtarana, GIN-1172/7; 8. Falsipyrgula sp. 1, GIN-1172/8; 9. Falsipyrgula sp. 2, GIN-1172/9; 10. Falsipyrgula sp. 3, GIN-1172/10; 11. Falsipyrgula sp. 4, GIN-1172/11; 12. Shadinia cf. terpoghassiani (Shadin, 1952), GIN-1172/12; 13. Shadinia sp. 1, GIN-1172/13; 14. Shadinia sp. 2, GIN-1172/14; 15. Pseudamnicola sp. 1, GIN-1172/15; 16. Pseudamnicola sp. 2, GIN-1172/16; 17. Pseudamnicola sp. 3, GIN-1172/17; 18. Pseudamnicola sp. 4, GIN-1172/18. 1-18 - Voghji, bed 8.
FIGURE 7. Fish remains from Haykadzor and Lusaghbyur localities, north-western Armenia. 1. Telestes cf. souffia, PIN 5595/201, pharyngeal tooth; 2-3. Pseudalburnus sp., PIN 5595/202, 203, pharyngeal teeth; 4-5. Capoeta sp., PIN 5595/204, 205, pharyngeal teeth.
FIGURE 8. Amphibian remains from early Middle Pleistocene Haykadzor locality, Armenia. 1. Bufotes viridis s. l., GIN-1142/120, left ilium of lateral view; 2. Rana sp., GIN-1142/121, right ilium of lateral view; 3. Rana sp., GIN-1142/122, left ilium of lateral view. Scale bars are 1 mm.
FIGURE 9. Equus sp. ex gr. E. stenonis, GIN, unnumbered specimen, Lower left p3? or p4, Lusaghbyur, Arapi Fm, Shirak Depression, early Middle Pleistocene, Armenia. A. Occlusal view with indicated elements of the tooth. 1. metaconid; 2. metastylid; 3. entoconid; 4. talonid; 5. paraconid; 6. protoconid; 7. hypoconid; 8. fossa anterior; 9. fossa posterior (postflexid); 10. ectoflexid; 11. linguaflexid; 12. isthmus. B. Buccal view.
FIGURE 10. Soricidae from early Middle Pleistocene, Haykadzor, Armenia. 1. Neomys cf. hintoni, GIN-1142/2, ascending branch of fragmentary right mandible, 1a. lingual view with buccal fossa indicated by dashed line, 1b. labial view, 1c. condyle view; reversed. 2. Sorex cf. runtonensis, GIN-1142/3, right mandible, lingual view, 2a. condyle view.
FIGURE 11. Dental morphology of the fossil water vole Mimomys intermedius, early Middle Pleistocene, Haykadzor, Armenia. 1-8. GIN-1142/5-12, first lower molar, m1, occlusal view; a, labial view. All molars are shown as right side, numbers 1, 5 are reversed. Horizontal axis illustrates decreasing crown heights in the course of wear (higher crowned, younger specimens are to the right, more worn, to the left). Occlusal and lateral scales, 1 mm.
FIGURE 12. Dental morphology of the fossil water vole Mimomys intermedius, early Middle Pleistocene, Haykadzor, Armenia. 1-7. GIN-1142/68-75, third upper molar, M3, occlusal view; a, labial view; b, lingual view; c, posterior view. All molars are shown as right side, numbers 4, 6, 7 are reversed. Occlusal and lateral scales, 1 mm.
FIGURE 13. Mimomys intermedius, early Middle Pleistocene, Haykadzor, Armenia. Violin diagram showing distribution of frequencies of crown heights in molar types.
FIGURE 14. Dental morphology of the fossil vole Terricola sp., early Middle Pleistocene, Krasar, Armenia. 1-3. GIN-1141/2-4, first lower molar, m1; 4. GIN-1141/5, second upper molar, M2; 5. GIN-1141/6, first upper molar, M1. Occlusal view. All molars are shown as left side, numbers 1, 3, 4 are reversed. Scale equals 1 mm.
FIGURE 15. Dental morphology of the fossil vole Microtus ex gr. nutiensis, early Middle Pleistocene, Haykadzor, Armenia. 1-6. GIN-1142/90-95, first lower molar, m1; 7-10. GIN-1142/96-99, first upper molar, M1; 11. GIN-1142/100, second lower molar, m2; occlusal view; a, alveolar view. All molars are shown as left side, numbers 1, 5, 7 are reversed. Scale equals 1 mm.
FIGURE 16. Dental morphology of the fossil voles from early Middle Pleistocene of Armenia. Prolagurus transylvanicus, Haykadzor. 1. GIN-1142/ 105, first lower molar, m1, right side; 1a, the same molar in occlusal view; 2. GIN-1142/108, first upper molar, M1; 3. GIN-1142/111, second upper molar, M2; a, alveolar view. Ellobius pomeli (after Tesakov, 2016), 4. Krasar, GIN-1141/1, first lower molar, m1, left side; 5. Haykadzor, GIN-1142/1, second lower molar, m2, right side, occlusal view; 4a and 5a, labial; 4b and 4b, lingual; 4c and 5c, anterior; 4d and 5d, posterior view. Numbers 2 and 3 are reversed. Scale equals 1 mm.
