Pharyngeal Teeth, Lateral Ethmoids, and Jaw Teeth of Fishes and Additional Fossils From the Late Miocene (Late Khersonian / Early Maeotian) of Eastern Paratethys (Yalova, Near İstanbul, Turkey)

Authors: NERİMAN RÜHKERT ÜLKÜMEN, ERDİNÇ YİĞİTBAŞ

Abstract: A late Khersonian to early Maeotian fossil assemblage from the Upper Miocene to Lower Pliocene Yalakdere Formation near Yalova city (northwestern Anatolia, Turkey) is documented. The following fish taxa, represented by pharyngeal teeth, lateral ethmoids and jaw teeth are described: Cyprinidae with Carassius sp., Tinca sp., Scardinius sp., Leuciscus sp., Barbus sp., Cobitidae with Cobitis sp., Siluridae with Silurus sp., and Esocidae with Esox sp.. Further described vertebrates are reptiles (Trionyx sp.) and small mammals (cf. Eliomys intermedius FRIANT). Additional invertebrate fauna and flora, comprising diverse gastropods, ostracods, charophytes, pollen and limnic green algae, are listed. The fossil assemblage from the Yalakdere Formation indicates fresh to slightly brackish water environments.

Keywords: pisces, systematics, biostratigraphy, Neogene, Turkey

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