Plio-pleistocene micro mammal fauna of Çobani̇sa (Mani̇sa-Turgutlu) vicinity

The studies on the mammalian fossil finds from the sand pit of Çobanisa locality which is located 35 km NE of Izmir is extremely limited. Preliminary studies have shown the presence of macro and micro mammals from the Upper Pliocene and Lower Pleistocene sediments. New data obtained from studies on micro mammal finds in this region will contribute significantly to the Plio-Pleistocene biostratigraphy of Western Anatolia. Samples of micro mammal fossils from the previous studies in the Turgutlu Formation belong to two different chronological levels (late Early Pliocene (Ruscinian) and mid Early Pleistocene (Late Villanian, MN17- MQ1)). In this study, the samples belong to early Late Pliocene (Early Villanian, MN16) and systematically described are determined: Propliomys ex gr. graecus, Arvicolidae indet., Orientalomys similis and Muridae indet. Propliomys from Çobanisa is the third record in Turkey and hypsodonty level of the teeth is more than Propliomys hungaricus (Czarnota 2, Hungary, MN15) and P.destinatus (Odessa Catacombs, Ukraine, MN15) and close to particularly Early Villanian form P.graecus (Tourkoubounia 1, Greece) and the other two records from Turkey are Pliomys sp. (Ortalıca, Kastamonu) and Pliomys graecus (Yenice 1, Samsun). Hypsodonty level and development in the dentine area of Propliomys T4 from Çobanisa is lower than the forms of Early Villanyian.The finding of Orientalomys, known from Eastern Europe and Western Asia, represents a very short stratigraphic range, between the late Early Pliocene to early Late Pliocene (Late Ruscinian - Early Villanyian, the MN15- MN16). Anatolian Orientalomys records are also known from the Ankara-Calta fauna (late Early Pliocene-Late Villanyian) and Samsun-Yenice-1 (early Late Pliocene). This new Propliomys-Orientalomys association in Manisa-Çobanisa region fills the gap between Early Pliocene and Early Pleistocene levels and allows more reliable paleoecological and paleogeographical correlations between the Black Sea and Aegean faunas.