This fossil flora in Turkey stems from at least six Pliocene deposits in Güvem and Beşkonak villages, north of Ankara, north of Kızılcahamam and south of the Black Sea coast. They are to above sea level, extending north-south and 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.Engelhardt, H. (1903): Tertiar pflan von Kleinasien, Beitr. z, Po/aonto/, u. Geo/, Østerreich_Ungarns u.d. Orientts, 15(2-3): 55-64
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