Magnetostratigraphy and paleoecology of the hominid-bearing locality Corakyerler, Tuğlu Formation (Çankiri Basin, Central Anatolia)

Abstract

Ouranopithecus turkae, from the late Miocene of Çorakyerler in Central Anatolia, is considered one of the last known occurrences of great ape in the eastern Mediterranean. The Çorakyerler fauna has previously been correlated with MN 11 to early MN 12 on the basis of biochronology, and its faunal composition has been found to contrast with those from contemporaneous sites. In this paper, we present the magnetostratigraphy of the Çorakyerler site and an expanded interpretation of its paleobiogeographical and paleoecological contexts. The paleomagnetic results reveal two intervals of normal polarity and an intervening interval of reversed polarity in the main fossiliferous section. Of the three likely age correlations spanning 8.13–7.15 Ma (MN 11–MN 12), we favor correlation with chron 4n, with a possible age range of the fossiliferous deposit between 8.11 and 7.64 Ma (late MN 11). The geographic distribution of genus-level faunal similarity and mean hypsodonty show that Çorakyerler is a typical representative of the Pikermian chronofauna with a wide range of faunal similarity, including late Miocene localities from the eastern Mediterranean, eastern Asia, and eastern Africa. Lithological and sedimentological characteristics of the fossiliferous horizon, however, indicate a lacustrine depositional environment and relatively humid local conditions within the more arid regional context. This special setting could explain the unexpected occurrence of a hominid primate at Çorakyerler. Citation for this article: Kaya, F., N. Kaymakçi, F. Bibi, J. T. Eronen, C. Pehlevan, A. C. Erkman, C. G. Langereis, and M. Fortelius. 2016. Magnetostratigraphy and paleoecology of the hominid-bearing locality Çorakyerler, Tuğlu Formation (Çankırı Basin, Central Anatolia). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. DOI: 10.1080/02724634.2015.1071710.