50-million year-old nummulite exhibited in SE Turkey

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

A recently discovered 50-million-year-old nummulite, a large lens-shaped single-celled marine organism (foraminifera), was put on display at a museum in Turkey’s southeastern province.

The fossil was exhibited at Zoology Museum in Diyarbakir province, which features around 2,000 endemic animals including a hermit ibis, giant reptile and leopard carp.

The nummulite was found by Busra Bektas, a molecular biology student at Dicle University in Diyarbakir, during a family picnic in southeastern Siirt province.

The term “nummulite” means “coin” in Latin.

“Many areas including Anatolia [peninsula of land that today constitutes the Asian portion of Turkey] was underwater previously. When Anatolia rose, fossils appeared,” Ali Satar, a zoology professor at Dicle University, told Anadolu Agency.

“These areas, where fossils exist, could not be able to be searched due to terror incidents. When we do a search in the area, we will find many fossils,” Satar added.

Bektas, who found the nummulite, expressed her excitement about finding such a fossil.

“There are many such things there. I want there to be researched. Because those areas were underwater before. Existence of such organisms in those areas makes me excited,” she said.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey

A recently discovered 50-million-year-old nummulite, a large lens-shaped single-celled marine organism (foraminifera), was put on display at a museum in Turkey’s southeastern province.

The fossil was exhibited at Zoology Museum in Diyarbakir province, which features around 2,000 endemic animals including a hermit ibis, giant reptile and leopard carp.

The nummulite was found by Busra Bektas, a molecular biology student at Dicle University in Diyarbakir, during a family picnic in southeastern Siirt province.

The term “nummulite” means “coin” in Latin.

“These areas, where fossils exist, could not be able to be searched due to terror incidents. When we do a search in the area, we will find many fossils,” Satar added.

Bektas, who found the nummulite, expressed her excitement about finding such a fossil.

“There are many such things there. I want there to be researched. Because those areas were underwater before. Existence of such organisms in those areas makes me excited,” she said.