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An adult maxilla and partial mandibles of a hominoid primate recovered from the late Miocene locality of Çorakyerler (central Anatolia) are recognized as a new species of Ouranopithecus, one of the rare western Eurasian hominoids to have survived well into the late Miocene. This species is distinguished from its sister taxon, and likely ancestor Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, by a constellation of dentognathic features. The new species, in which the male postcanine dentition is larger than that of any other Miocene ape besides Gigantopithecus, is associated with evidence indicating an open, dry environment. Dental features of Ouranopithecus apparently evolved in parallel with later Australopithecus, and suggest that Ouranopithecus was adapted to a diet of tough/abrasive foods.

Ouranopithecus turkae, from the late Miocene ofÇorakyerler in Central Anatolia, is considered one of the last known occurrences of great ape in the eastern Mediterranean. TheÇorakyerler fauna has previously been correlated with MN 11 to early MN 12 on the basis of biochronology, and its faunal composition has been found to contrast with those from contemporaneous sites. In this paper, we present the magnetostratigraphy of theÇorakyerler site and an expanded interpretation of its paleobiogeographical and paleoecological contexts. The paleomagnetic results reveal two intervals of normal polarity and an intervening interval of reversed polarity in the main fossiliferous section. Of the three likely age correlations spanning 8.13-7.15 Ma (MN 11-MN 12), we favor correlation with chron 4n, with a possible age range of the fossiliferous deposit between 8.11 and 7.64 Ma (late MN 11). The geographic distribution of genus-level faunal similarity and mean hypsodonty show thatÇorakyerler is a typical representative of the Pikermian chronofauna with a wide range of faunal similarity, including late Miocene localities from the eastern Mediterranean, eastern Asia, and eastern Africa. Lithological and sedimentological characteristics of the fossiliferous horizon, however, indicate a lacustrine depositional environment and relatively humid local conditions within the more arid regional context. This special setting could explain the unexpected occurrence of a hominid primate atÇorakyerler.

arasında iki dönem olarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Yapılan kazı çalışmaları sonucu Kalkolitik, Erken Tunç Çağı I, MÖ I. binyıl (Yeni Asur Dönemi) ve Ortaçağ'a ait 9 kültür katı tespit edilmiştir. Hayvan kemikleri Eski Tunç Çağı, Yeni Asur Dönemi ve Orta Çağ tabakalarına ait mezarlardan ele geçmiştir. Faunayı oluşturan hayvan kemikleri üzerinde aile ve cins/tür sınıflandırılması yapılmıştır. Kemikler üzerinde yapılan incelemeler tanımlanabilen cins\türlerin memeli sınıfına ait olduğunu göstermektedir. Faunanın tamamına yakın bölümü evcil memelilerden oluşmakta, çoğunluk sığırlardan meydana gelmektedir. Hayvan kemiklerinin mezar alanlarından ele geçmesi, burada sunu-adak ritüelleri ve cenaze-ölü kültü ile ilgili ritüellerinin gerçekleştirildiğini düşündürmektedir.

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