Early Miocene insectivores of Gökler (Kazan Basin, Central Anatolia, Turkey)

Unlike the rodents of the local zone C (MN 2) fauna of Gökler, the faunal list of the insectivores shows little surprises. The fauna is dominated by the gymnure Galerix saratji and the enigmatic talpid Suleimania ruemkae, both present in such numbers that for the first time the anterior dentition could be reconstructed. In the case of Galerix, these new data show that the older species had a relatively long premolar row and a conspicuously high p2/p3 ratio. Other eulipotyphlans are the moles Theratiskos rutgeri and Desmanodon sp., the dimylid Turkodimylus sp., the heterosoricid Dinosorex anatolicus and the shrews Oligosorex aff. reumeri and Soricid I. Overall, the diversity indicates a humid environment, as is usual for the early Miocene lignite bed faunas of Anatolia. The relatively low number of Theratiskos, shared with other B-C faunas from central Anatolia, suggests a difference between the environments in that region and those further to the south.This research was part of the Vertical Anatolian Movements Project (VAMP), funded by the TOPO-EUROPE programme of the European Science Foundation and the Slovak Researchand Development Agency (SRDA-project number ESF-EC-009-07 and project APVV-15-0575). PJ was partly supported by the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency (VEGA 1/0702/17). LHO gratefully acknowledges the support of Tübitak under the 2221 programme for visiting scientists and particularly thanks his hosts Serdar Mayda and Tanju Kaya and the staffof the EGE Natural History Museum for the warm reception during hisstay. MB was supported by EGE University (TTM/001/2016, TTM/002/2016) and the Slovak Scientific Grant Agency (VEGA 1/0164/19). EGE University also provided short-term research grants for LHO, PJ and PPC, facilitating the international cooperation on the history of Anatolia