Insectivore faunas from the Lower Miocene of Anatolia - Part 8: Stratigraphy, palaeoecology, palaeobiogeography

This article deals with biostratigraphy, palaeoecology and biogeography of the Late Oligocene/Early Miocene insectivore faunas from Anatolia. With the exception of the much younger fauna from Keseköy, all faunas contain the same insectivore species. Keseköy contains the same genera, but mostly different species. It has been suggested that insectivores are of limited stratigraphical use due to the longevity of the taxa. This seems to hold true for the Early Miocene faunas from Anatolia. Changes in the composition of the insectivore faunas are used to infer environmental changes. A rise in the abundance of insectivores near the MP 30/MN 1 transition is believed to be indicative of a climatic amelioration. The dominance of Theratiskos in Harami and Keseköy may reflect a somewhat dryer environment than indicated by the Kilçak assemblages. Three periods of migration are deduced from the comparison of the stratigraphical distribution of the European en Anatolian insectivores. During the Late Oligocene various insectivores migrated into an area including Anatolia. Somewhere around the MN 2/MN 3 transition Galerix and Desmanodon migrated from Anatolia into Europe. During MN 4 we find a large number of migrations into Europe, e.g. that of Dinosorex. The palaeogeographical and ecological changes that allowed the various migrations are discussed.