Corakyerler (Miocene of Turkey)

Where: Cankiri, Turkey (40.6° N, 33.6° E: paleocoordinates 40.9° N, 33.1° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

When: MN 11 mammal zone, Tuglu Formation, Late/Upper Miocene (11.6 - 5.3 Ma)

Environment/lithology: lacustrine - large; lithified, lenticular, red mudstone and nodular, red, white, silty limestone

• Corakyerler contrast strongly with the mostly fluvial or alluvial fan deposits at other Turolian localities in the Greco-Iranian region. Sedimentological and faunal differences both suggest that the fossil assemblage of Corakyerler represents habitats at an ancient lake shore. The evidence supports the view that its com- munity is somehow ‘more humid’ than expected from its mean hypsodonty, reflecting a locally humid setting in a more arid regional context. Corakyerler therefore shows local taxonomic and paleoenvironmental differences from the regional average, as a typical Pikermian fauna and environment with a local twist favorable to hominids.
• At its lower levels, the Tuglu Formation at Corakyerler (Fig. 4) is characterized by red to pink nodular limestone and siltstone, marl alternations with sparse freshwater mollusks (Gastro- poda, Bivalvia), and some vertebrate bones. This is succeeded by an approximately 6-m-thick white to pinkish clayey limestone intercalated with thin red mudstone lenses that are rich in vertebrate bones, including hominid fossils. The fossil-bearing horizon appears to reflect a distal alluvial fan to floodplain environment. The presence of freshwater mollusks, together with an alternation of gypsum, marls, laminated claystones, and shales, in the various levels of the section indicates lacustrine deposition with fluctuating lake levels. Organic-rich levels may indicate swampy areas at the periphery of the lake (cf. Walker and James, 1992; Talbot and Allen, 1996), whereas lenses of sandstones with conglomerates indicate fluvial settings, which probably drained the lake.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Primary reference: F. Kaya, N. Kaymakci, F. Bibi, J. Eronen, C. Pehlevan, A.C. Erkman, C. Langereis and M. Fortelius. 2016. Magnetostratigraphy and paleoecology of the hominid-bearing locality Corakyerler, Tuglu Formation (Cankiri Basin, Central Anatolia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 36(2) [E. Vlachos/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: biostratigraphic analysis

PaleoDB collection 184368: authorized by Evangelos Vlachos, entered by Evangelos Vlachos on 23.02.2017, edited by Claire Hoover

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

unclassified
  -
Mammalia
 Rodentia - Hystricidae
Hystrix kayae3 Halaçlar et al. 2023 porcupine
 Rodentia - Gliridae
Myomimus indet.5 Ognev 1924 dormouse
 Rodentia - Eomyidae
Keramidomys indet.5 Hartenberger 1966 rodent
 Rodentia - Muridae
Muridae indet.5 Illiger 1811 mouse
Pliospalax indet.5 Kormos 1932 blind mole
Pseudomeriones latidens5 Sen 2001 gerbil
 Rodentia - Cricetidae
Byzantinia hellenicus5 Freudenthal 1970 mouse
Byzantinia pikermiensis5 de Bruijn 1976 mouse
 Primates - Hominidae
Ouranopithecus turkae n. sp.2 Gulec et al. 2007 ape
 Theriamorpha - Soricidae
Soricidae indet.5 Fischer 1814 shrew
 Perissodactyla - Rhinocerotidae
Acerorhinus sp.1 Kretzoi 1942 rhinoceros
n. sp.
Ceratotherium neumayri Osborn 1900 white rhino
in Pehlevan 2005
Chilotherium kowalevskii rhinoceros
in Pehlevan 2005
 Perissodactyla - Equidae
Hipparion sp.1 de Christol 1832 hipparionine horse
Hipparion cf. prostylum1 Gervais 1849 hipparionine horse
 Artiodactyla - Suidae
Microstonyx major1 Gervais 1848 pig
 Artiodactyla - Cervidae
Pliocervus sp.1 Hilzheimer 1922 deer
 Artiodactyla - Bovidae
cf. Criotherium sp.1 Forsyth Major 1891 antelope
Gazella sp.1 Blaineville 1816 gazelle
Oioceros rothi1 antelope
cf. Tragoportax sp.1 Pilgrim 1937 antelope
Miotragocerus sp.1 Stromer 1928 antelope
cf. Prostrepsiceros sp.1 Forsyth Major 1891 antelope
cf. Nisidorcas sp. Bouvrain 1979 antelope
in Bibi and Gulec 2008
 Artiodactyla - Giraffidae
Bohlinia cf. attica1 Lydekker 1886 giraffe
Palaeotragus cf. quadricornis1 Bohlin 1926 giraffe
Palaeotragus cf. rouenii1 Gaudry 1861 giraffe
 Carnivora - Felidae
Amphimachairodus giganteus Kretzoi 1929 cat
based on Sevim and Yigit 2008
 Carnivora - Hyaenidae
Ictitherium indet. Wagner 1848 hyaena
based on Sevim Erol and Yigit 2010
 Carnivora - Mustelidae
Mustelidae indet. Fischer 1817 mustelid carnivore
based on Sevim Erol and Yigit 2010
 Proboscidea - Choerolophodontidae
Choerolophodon pentelici1 Gaudry and Lartet 1856 proboscidean
Reptilia
 Testudines - Trionychidae
Trionyx triunguis4 Forksal 1775 African softshell turtle