Dental remains of fossil elephants from Turkey

Turkey is at the crossroads of Africa, Asia and Europe, and occupies an important position for the migration of mammals such as elephantids. Nonetheless, there has been no detailed study of fossil elephants from Turkey. In this study, elephant remains from five localities were examined. Mammuthus meridionalis, Mammuthus trogontherii, Elephas maximus and probably Palaeoloxodon antiquus were identified. M. meridionalis remains from Yukarısöğütönü have some primitive features compared to typical meridionalis of the Upper Valdarno, which is consistent with the age of the locality. M. trogontherii was identified from Suluova and Dursunlu. Most of the mammoth remains from Dursunlu have features of typical trogontherii, but some have ‘primitive’ features evoking meridionalis. E. maximus was identified from Gavur Lake Swamp, but these remains were collected from agricultural areas by local people so there is no information about their exact location. However, new radiocarbon dates indicate that at approximately 3500 BP, the range of Asian elephant extended as far west as south-east Turkey. The E. maximus remains are mostly similar to recent Asian elephant in appearance and metrics, but some specimens show unexpected characters that might signal a distinct, now extinct population. Although remains of E. maximus include isolated teeth, skulls, mandibles and post-cranial bones, this study focused on only teeth.