At the Tavas Kayaca fossil site in the southwestern province of Denizli, excavations are bringing an extraordinarily preserved Late Miocene ecosystem to light, offering scientists a vivid glimpse into prehistoric life from 7 to 9 million years ago.
The site, regarded as one of the world’s most promising vertebrate fossil localities, is the only active fossil excavation in Türkiye discovered entirely by a Turkish research team. Among the country’s eight ongoing fossil excavations, it has drawn particular attention for its unusually high concentration of carnivore fossils and exceptionally preserved bird remains.
The excavation is conducted under the supervision of the Denizli Museum Directorate of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, with Associate Professor Ahmet İhsan Aytek of Burdur Mehmet Akif Ersoy University’s Department of Anthropology serving as scientific advisor.
Aytek said researchers have uncovered more than 700 fossils from a rich assemblage of species, including ancestral elephants, three-toed horses, rhinoceroses, giraffes, gazelles, hyenas and saber-toothed cats.
“The area’s natural geological conditions protected these fossils for millions of years,” Aytek said, adding that international scientific publications have already begun introducing the site’s significance to the global research community.
According to Aytek, the locality stands out because carnivore fossils account for nearly 10 percent of the discoveries, far above the roughly 2 percent typically recorded at similar fossil sites worldwide.
He also highlighted the abundance of bird fossils, which are rarely preserved because of the fragility of bird bones.
“Bird fossils are almost never found in many localities, yet here we recover them in remarkable numbers,” he said.
Aytek explained that the fossil bed was formed after massive floods swept animal remains into low-lying areas before layers of clay buried and preserved them.
“The clay that makes excavation so difficult today is actually what protected the fossils for millions of years,” he said.
Because of the fossils’ delicate condition, excavations are carried out entirely by trained researchers and students without the use of heavy machinery.
Aytek noted that surveys conducted between 2017 and 2021 identified the area as the country’s richest fossil locality, leading to excavations that began in 2022 after mining operations at the site ceased.
He also said the team is currently studying what may be the world’s best-preserved skull of a saber-toothed cat, alongside several other rare animal fossils.
The site has already yielded several significant discoveries, including one of Türkiye’s earliest known elephant fossils and another rare specimen found only recently.
“This is the only fossil locality in Türkiye discovered by a Turkish team,” Aytek said. “The response from the international scientific community has been overwhelming, and we are receiving collaboration requests from researchers around the world.”
