PALEOECOLOGY OF THE MIOCENE FAUNA FROM PASALAR, TURKEY

The environment of deposition of the Paşalar Miocene sediments indicates rapid deposition from sources close to the fossil site. There is a wide size range of bones, from insectivore teeth and jaws to proboscidean limb bones, and there is some evidence of taphonomic bias during the accumulation of the bones. Mammals constitute the main part of the fauna, and palaeoecological interpretations are therefore based on them. The high diversity of mammalian species (58 species known) is sufficient to suggest some form of wooded habitat in a tropical or sub-tropical seasonal climate. The size distribution of the Paşalar fauna and its community structure confirm this, while excluding the possibility of any of the tropical habitats with evergreen or semi-evergreen forest vegetation. The closest similarities in all of the analyses are with sub-tropical forest faunas from India, with seasonal, summer-rainfall climates and semi-deciduous forest cover, dense ground vegetation and frequent open glades. Also similar are the deciduous woodland (or forest) faunas from tropical Africa, and these also occur in highly seasonal climatic regions and have similarly simple tree canopies and abundant ground vegetation. It is concluded, therefore, that the climate at Paşalar during the Miocene was seasonal, sub-tropical, and perhaps with summer-rainfall rains; and the vegetation consisted of semideciduous forest with abundant ground cover and many open areas. © 1990.