Mammalian Paleodiversity of Late Miocene Özlüce (Muğla) fauna

Abstract

Özlüce Fossil vertebrate locality is located 1km north of Özlüce Village which is located about 35 km NW of Muğla. The excavations and field surveys were conducted in 1993 under the scientific consultation of Prof. Dr. Berna Alpagut, together with Muğla Museum Directorate. The excavations had started in 1994 with the financial support and authorization of Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Since 2000, paleontological studies under the title of "Turolian Park Project" have been continued under the supervision of Muğla Archaeology Museum and the faunal collections has been exhibited in "Dr. Lale Aytaman Department of Natural History" section of the museum. In September 2021, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the excavation was restarted. During the excavation, conservation and preliminary taxonomic studies of the cataloged fossils were also carried out. By this preliminary systematic study, diversity of fauna has found to be composed of: Rhinoceratidaeae (27.7%), Proboscidea (27%), Equidae (20.5%), Bovidae (13.5%), Giraffidae (10%) and Carnivora 1 (1%). As the dietary adaptations in fossil ungulate families are variable, bovids have in general retained relatively specialized grazers which is reflected in their mostly high-crowned (hypsodont) dentitions. However, rhinoceroses and giraffids, which are also recorded in Özlüce as Chilotherium and Paleotragus respectively, have mostly retained browse dominated diets and brachydont dentitions. Proboscideans are represented by Choerolophodon in Özlüce was adapted to open environments and had foraged mostly on grasses and other monocotyledonous herbs. Studies of paleoecological reconstructions from this region indicate that during the early Late Miocene, woodland animals started to disappear and replaced by animals adapted to more open and dry habitats while Turolian habitat was even more open and drier. Palaeoenvironmental proxy data of Özluce fauna corroborate this hypothesis as the general of fauna indicates the dominance of open woodland conditions, observed in Early Turolian habitats.

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Mammalian Paleodiversity of Late Miocene Özlüce (Muğla) fauna
Serdar Mayda1, Berna Alpagut2, Gülnaz Savran3, Tanju Kaya1, Fikret Göktaş4, Gülşah Güler2,
Paul Rummy5, 6 , Durdu Nur Suna7, Büşra Pullu1, Kazım Halaçlar1, 5, 6 *
1Natural History Application and Research Centre, Ege University, İzmir, Türkiye.
2Department of Paleoanthropology, Faculty of Languages History and Geography, Ankara University,
Ankara, Türkiye.
3Muğla Museum Directorate, Muğla, Türkiye.
4MTA Geology Department, Ankara, Türkiye.
5Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and
Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
6CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China College of Earth and
Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
7Institute of Social Sciences, Cultural Heritage and Heritage Site Management, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman
University, Muğla, Türkiye.
*Corresponding author e-mail: khalaclar@ivpp.ac.cn
Abstract
Özlüce Fossil vertebrate locality is located 1km north of Özlüce Village which is located about 35 km
NW of Muğla. The excavations and field surveys were conducted in 1993 under the scientific
consultation of Prof. Dr. Berna Alpagut, together with Muğla Museum Directorate. The excavations had
started in 1994 with the financial support and authorization of Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Since
2000, paleontological studies under the title of "Turolian Park Project" have been continued under the
supervision of Muğla Archaeology Museum and the faunal collections has been exhibited in "Dr. Lale
Aytaman Department of Natural History" section of the museum. In September 2021, with the support
of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the excavation was restarted. During the excavation,
conservation and preliminary taxonomic studies of the catalogued fossils were also carried out. By this
preliminary systematic study, diversity of fauna has found to be composed of: Rhinoceratidaeae
(27.7%), Proboscidea (27%), Equidae (20.5%), Bovidae (13.5%), Graffidae (10%) and Carnivora 1
(1%). As the dietary adaptations in fossil ungulate families are variable, bovids have in general retained
relatively specialized grazers which is reflected in their mostly high-crowned (hypsodont) dentitions.
However, rhinoceroses and giraffids, which are also recorded in Özlüce as Chilotherium and Paleotragus
respectively, have mostly retained browse dominated diets and brachydont dentitions. Proboscideans
are represented by Choerolophodon in Özlüce was adapted to open environments and had foraged
mostly on grasses and other monocotyledonous herbs. Studies of paleoecological reconstructions from
this region indicate that during the early Late Miocene, woodland animals started to disappear and
replaced by animals adapted to more open and dry habitats while Turolian habitat was even more open
and drier. Palaeoenvironmental proxy data of Özluce fauna corroborate this hypothesis as the general of
fauna indicates the dominance of open woodland conditions, observed in Early Turolian habitats.
Keywords: Faunal diversity, paleoecology, paleoenvironment, Özlüce, Late Miocene
Oral Presentations - Zoology & Entomology Session