Ankara University Faculty of Language, History and Geography Head of Anthropology Department Prof. Dr. In the excavations that have been going on for 22 years under the direction of Ayla Sevim Erol, 4,169 fossils belonging to 43 species have been unearthed so far.
Among these fossils, the fossil belonging to an arrow-like hedgehog-like creature named “Hystrix kayae”, whose scientific article was published in 2023 and determined to live only in Çankırı, is larger than goats, and “Qurliqnoria chorakensis” named after Çorakyerler excavation area and whose article was published in 2021. fossil belonging to a creature smaller than deer, a fossil belonging to an antelope-like creature among the deer goat known as “Gangraia anatolica”, which took the ancient name of Çankırı, whose article was published in 2022, and “Anadoluvius turkae”, whose article was published in 2023, named after Anatolia A fossil belonging to a gorilla-like creature described as “ape” and 4 new animal species were identified.
“We found fossil remains of 43 species in Çorakyerler”
Sevim Erol said that the fossils unearthed from the Çorakyerler excavation area are about 9 million years old.
Sevim Erol, explaining that they started to work at Çorakyerler Vertebrate Fossil Locality primarily to save the fossil bed, and that as the work continues, they encountered new extinct species, Sevim Erol said, “We have recovered fossil remains of 43 species in Çorakyerler. 6 of them are species unique to Çorakyerler. , 4 of which have now been published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. he said.
Stating that they have obtained very important findings from the excavation area so far, Sevim Erol said, “We are trying to introduce this animal by naming it Chorakensis, that is Çorakyerler. It is a species that lived in the Çankırı region. Its characteristics show that it only lived in Çankırı. “It is a species with a morphology larger than goats and smaller than deer. Chorakensis is an animal similar to the Tibetan ox because it lives in China.” used the phrases.
“It is a species found only in Çankırı”
Stating that the fossil belonging to an antelope-like creature among the deer-goat found in the excavations was also named “Gangraia anatolica”, Sevim Erol said, “Our other new species is Gangraia anatolica. This is a species we gave a new name. Gangraia was one of the ancient names of Çankırı. It is a species that is between a deer and a goat, and was only found in Çankırı.” gave the information.
Noting that a fossil of an animal like a porcupine with an arrow was found and they named it “Hystrix kayae”, Sevim Erol said, “It is an animal unique to Çankırı. We gave this species the surname of Prof. Dr. Tanju Kaya at Ege University, a Çorakyerler team member.” said.
Explaining that the fossils belonging to a gorilla-like species, named “Anadoluvius turkae”, have recently been published, Sevim Erol said:
“I will say a new gorilla-like creature published in Nature magazine, we named it Anadoluvius turkae. In fact, the species we found in Çankırı have very different characteristics, although similar ones are found in Greece and Bulgaria. Of course, only facial and tooth remains are related to this fossil. When we find the body remains, we will be able to define it much more clearly, but based on the characteristics of this animal, which we have identified with the current information, we understand that it only lived in and around Çankırı province.”
“We have introduced 4 new species to the world of science”
Sevim Erol pointed out that since the species found were found in Çankırı and similar ones are not seen elsewhere, the names specific to Çankırı were given, and said:
“When new excavations are carried out in other places and fossils similar to this species are found, they will be referred to by the names we give them. In Çankırı, we have brought 4 new species to the scientific world by being published. There are still new species to be published. Our studies continue. In the coming years, we will introduce new species to the scientific world with new publications.”
