A fossil of a mollusk from the class of gastropods, which include snails and mollusks, which inhabited the earth 66 million years ago, has led scientists to wonder whether they have come across traces of a sea that existed near Ankara, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced, BTA reported.
The fossil was discovered during excavations in the Göbaşı region, where there is a lake today. The find has led scientists to assume that Tethys was there – a prehistoric ocean from the Mesozoic era that began to form 250 million years ago and is the predecessor of the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean and Black Seas, the Caspian Sea and other inland water basins between Europe and Asia.
The discovery comes a few days after the seeds of a flower that still grows in this area were discovered in the same area, which was inhabited by the Hittites 4,000 years ago.
According to the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the fossil, which is the next significant discovery, sheds light on the history of Ankara, which stretches back millions of years in time.
“The hypothesis of scientists is that the fossil is from the last periods (of existence – ed. note) of the Tethys, which extended to Central Anatolia“, the Minister of Culture and Tourism of Turkey.
The discovery marks the beginning of another scientific study - about how the snail moved to live there and the development of this life form over the millions of years that have passed.
The archaeological excavations near Gölbaşı began in 2021. Their leader is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Derya Yılmaz Tekin from Ankara University.