9M-year-old fossils revealed in Turkey

Survey research in the southwestern province of Denizli has unearthed the fossils of eight animal species including mammoth and rhinoceros that lived 1.2 million to 9 million years ago.

Under the direction of Mehmet Akif Ersoy University (MAKU) Anthropology Department academic Ahmet İhsan Aytek, a team of paleoanthropologists and geologists of Ege and Pamukkale universities and Paris Natural History Museums have continued surface surveys in Denizli.

Ongoing research in different regions identified eight different animal fossils, estimated to have lived between 1.2 million and 9 million years ago. Three different horns and one giraffe fossil dating from 9 million to 7 million years were found in the Miocene period, while the fossils of horse, deer, rhinoceros and mammoth dating back 1.2 million years were found in the Pleistocene period.

Scientists point out that the dating of fossils to the same period as the oldest human being, which was found in Anatolia in 2002, is important in terms of human interaction with animals.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Aytek said that they had found many animal fossils since 2017.

He said that the number of species richened, and they added new species to the fauna during their survey.

"We evaluate these fossils in two different time periods. The first is fossils from what we call the Miocene period dating back 9 to 7 million years. In addition to the many fossils, we found in previous years. This year, we identified four different animals, three of which had horns and one giraffe, in Tavas and Çal districts. The second is the Pleistocene period, also known as the Ice Age. We found four animals here. These are horses, deer, rhino and mammoth. The most important finds for us this...