Palaeoecological, palaeontological and palaeogeographical correlations between early miocene micromammal faunas in Anatolian

The rich fossil deposits of Turkey are of great interest, because of their location on intercontinental crossroads. Micromammalian fossils especially provide important data for stratigraphic, palaeogeographic and paleoecological purposes. Mammalian fossils contribute for the evolutionary work on mammalian phylogeny, to the intercontinental and intracontinental correlation of terrestrial Tertiary sediments, to the understanding of faunal migration, to the construction of biochronology, to understand palaeogeography and even to reconstruct the tectonic evolution of regions. For all these reasons, understanding of the fossil finds of mammals of Anatolia is of great importance. With respect to faunal migrations, the early Miocene epoch is of particular importance. This period also sees the union of Anatolia and Africa through a land bridge, which is the result of the northward movement of Arabian plate. This land connection between the two regions towards the end of the early Miocene has led to faunal exchange between the various continental faunas, with migrations and extinctions in the fauna of Africa and Asia, as is especially well documented in Europe. How the changes that took place in Anatolia affected the faunal movements and changes on a large scale is yet poorly understood. The subject of this thesis is the palaeontological, palaeoecological and palaeogeographical correlation of the micromammal fossils in localities from Ankara (Kılçak, Keseköy, Şemsettin and Gökler), Çorum (Kargı), Aydın (Söke and Dededağ), İçel (Yapıntı), İzmir (Bornova, Akçaşehir, Çapak, Dereköy), Konya (Harami) and Manisa (Sabuncubeli, Kınık, Beydere, Harta, Bozalan, Gördes) with a detailed taxonomic study of the Bornova Muridae specimens. Using both our own studies and data from literature, we discuss the stratigraphic distribution, palaeobiogeographic and palaeoecological implications of the general micromammalian fauna during this vital period in the faunal history of Turkey.