Late Pleistocene Avifauna of the Pešturina Cave (Nišava District, SE Serbia) and its Implications for Late Pleistocene Refugia in the Central Balkans

Avian remains presented here were collected from the deposits spanning between late MIS 5 to 3, and give a rare opportunity to observe Last Interglacial/Last Glacial avian succession in the Central Balkans. The Late Pleistocene avifauna from Pešturina cave (Niš District, SE Serbia), comprises 26 taxa from 18 families and 10 orders, 16 of which are reported for the first time from Pleistocene deposits of the Central Balkans. Today, these species live in a variety of habitats – open grassland, forest, rocky, and aquatic habitats. The species from forest habitat were the most abundant. All species (еxcept black grouse) are present in the country's modern avifauna. The cave provides some examples of “mixed” Pleistocene avifaunas, including species both of Euro-Siberian and Mediterranean/temperate present day distribution. The occurrence of rock sparrow marks one of the northernmost Pleistocene ones in Europe so far, while presence of other species is suggestive for complex mosaic ecosystems, which probably characterized Last Glacial landscapes in the Central Balkans, at least until the LGM.