Fishermen discover ancient fossils dating back eight million years

ÇANAKKALE

A group of Turkish fishermen has discovered the remains of elephant fossils that are believed to be about eight million years old on the Aegean province of Çanakkale’s Ezine coast.

The group in the Yeniköy settlement reported to Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University that there were some objects on the beach that they saw but could not identify what exactly they were.

Coming to the region upon the notice, the university team determined that the objects found by the fishermen were elephant fossils dating back eight million years.

The remains of elephant fossils were handed over to the Troy Museum after the examination of the team consisting of geologists, paleontologists and biologists.

Sevinç Kapan, a team member, noted that the remains found are examples of dental fossils and that they belong to two elephants, one of them being 30-40 years old and the other still a baby.

Kapan said that it is possible to estimate the age of elephants from the root length of their tusks.

The academic also attributed the death of elephants to a natural phenomenon.

“They probably came to this area to meet their water needs. We think that a natural event here caused their death. In this way, they reached to us with fossilizing,” she added.

Researchers have unearthed many ancient fossils in different parts of Anatolia recently, including skulls and jawbones belonging to elephants.

A couple of months ago, a research group had discovered the remains of a terrestrial animal fossil that is believed to be about seven-and-a-half million years old in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri.