9-Million-Year-Old Rhinoceros Fossil Found in Nevşehir
The fossil skull of a rhinoceros that lived in Turkey around 9 million years ago was found during a surface study conducted by a team of paleontologists in the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir's Ürgüp district, the Cihan news agency reported on Thursday.<br/><br/>
The team, assembled by the Gazi University's faculty of arts and sciences and the Nevşehir Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation General Directorate, found the rare fossil ceratotherium neumayri, a type of rhino that lived in the Anatolian region of modern-day Turkey during the late Miocene and thought by scientists to be an ancestor of both the white rhinoceros and black rhinoceros of Africa. Their analysis of the fossil was published on Nov. 21.
Okşan Başoğlu, a member of the surface study team, stated that they had also discovered the remains of a fossilized elephant and a cloven-hoofed animal during the course of their study.<br/><br/>
“Ürgüp is one of the richest areas in the world in terms of the fossil record, and we will continue our work in this area where we expect to find more fossils,” Başoğlu added.<br/><br/>
Meanwhile, four people were detained on Thursday for raiding an archaeological site in the eastern province of Kars. According to a written statement released by the Kars Governor's Office on Friday, security forces launched the operation based on a tip. Four people were detained at the site by police on charges of excavating without the permission of the necessary administrative bodies.
Many archaeological sites are raided throughout Turkey due to a lack of security at sites.<br/><br/>
The İzmir Municipality released a written statement on Friday regarding allegations that excavations are not conducted properly in the city. The statement confirmed that excavations are being carried out carefully by professional teams. Akın Ersoy of Dokuz Eylül University's archaeology department also said that an ancient bath house dating back to the Roman Empire has been discovered and great effort is being made not to cause damage to the site.<br/><br/>
