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

Unlike the rodents of the local zone C (MN 2) fauna of Gokler, 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.