This fossil flora in Turkey stems from at least six Pliocene deposits in Güvem and Beşkonak villages, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Ankara, 22 kilometres (14 mi) north of Kızılcahamam and 125 kilometres (78 mi) south of the Black Sea coast. They are 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above sea level, extending 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) north-south and 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east-west. Between six and seven million years ago, a fresh water lake existed there in a forested area with mostly broad leaved deciduous tree species, dominated by sequoia and oak. The Turkish botany Professor Baki Kasaplıgil (1918-1992) from Çankırı who worked at the Biology Department, Mills College, Oakland, California from 1956 to 1992, made fossil collecting trips to the area around Kızılcahamam - Çerkeş road in 1964 and 1968. In the 1964 trip he collected fossil leaves of Glyptostrobus, Sequoia, Zelkova, Fagus, Carpinus, Ulmus, Quercus, Tilia and Acer. In the 1968 trip, he collected 400 plant parts such as leaves, seeds, fruits, twigs and branches. He also collected 50 fossils of frog and fish skeletons and larvae and insects. In 1969, Wayne Fry from University of Berkeley made plant fossil collections in Güvem. Daniel I. Axelrod also assisted in the research of this flora.
Images of the fossil plants and fossil sites
Fossil plant species so far described from the deposits
Pteridophyta Salviniaceae Salvinia sp. Pteridaceae Cryptogramma aff. crispo
Gymnosperms Cupressaceae †Glyptostrobus europaeus †Sequoia langsdorfi Pinaceae Pinus canariensis Pinus morrisonicola Tsuga sp. Ephedraceae Ephedra sp.
Angiosperms, dicots Cercidiphyllaceae †Cercidiphyllum crenatum Magnoliaceae Magnolia sprengeri Menispermaceae Menispermum sp. Lauraceae Persea indica Platanaceae Platanus sp. Juglandaceae †Platycarya miocenica Pterocarya fraxinifolia Salicaceae Salix sp. Populus tremula Myricaceae Comptonia sp. Myrica banksiaefolia Fagaceae Castanea sp. Castanopsis sp. Fagus sp. †Quercus drymeja †Quercus heidingeri †Quercus kubinyi †Quercus aff. lonchitis Quercus petroela aff. Quercus sclerophyllina Quercus semecarpifolia †Quercus seyfriedii (very similar to Quercus phellos from eastern and central United States) †Quercus sosnoisky Quercus hartwissiana Quercus trojana aff. Betulaceae Alnus sp. Betula luminifera aff. Carpinus miocenica Sapindaceae †Acer angustilobum †Acer tribolatum Anacardiaceae Astronium sp. Ebenaceae Diospyros aff. miokaki Aquifoliaceae Ilex gracilis (close to Ilex serrata) Rosaceae Sorbus aucuparia aff. Fabaceae Cercis sp. †Sophora sp. Malvaceae Tilia platyphyllos aff, Ulmaceae Ulmus sp. †Zelkova ungeri Berberidaceae Berberis chinensis aff. Moraceae Ficus sp. Altingiaceae †Liquidambar europaeum Simaroubaceae Ailanthus altissima aff.
Angiosperms, monocots Smilaceae Smilax aspera Potamogetonaceae Potamogeton sp. Hydrocharitaceae Egeria densa aff. Najas sp. Typhaceae Typha sp.
Images of some extant close relatives of the fossil species
References