Sabuncubeli too, Bornova, a second micromammal assemblage from the Sabuncubeli section (early Miocene, western Anatolia)

Abstract

An old test sample from the Sabuncubeli Formation (Manisa, Turkey) yielded an interesting faunule, which, however, up to now had never been described. In Bornova 183, now inaccessible, five species of micromammal were encountered: the hamsters Eumyarion aff. montanus, E. intercentralis and Cricetodon kasapligili, the squirrel Palaeosciurus fissurae and the talpid Desmanodon sp.. The locality is known to be in superposition to the previously published locality of Sabuncubeli. A new sample of the latter provided five new elements to the fauna: the mole Theratiskos sp., the dimylid Turkodimylus sp., the shrew Oligosorex aff. reumeri, the glirid Glirulus ekremi and a bat Vespertilionidae gen. et sp.. The high diversity of insectivores in the locality confirms a humid environment for Sabuncubeli. Both assemblages are referable to local zone D or MN unit 3. However, differences in the stage of evolution of some faunal elements suggest a considerable time difference, indicating that the Sabuncubeli formation covers at least a major part of this time period.