195 million-year-old megalodon fossils found in Turkiye

By Hatice Ozdemir Tosun

ANTALYA, Turkiye (AA) - The fossils of extinct shark species megalodon that lived in the marine ecosystems 195 million years ago was discovered on the surface of a marble piece in a marble quarry in Turkiye's Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.

Some workers, while mining in a marble quarry in Antalya's Korkuteli district, found on the marble surface fossils of one of the largest sea creatures ever existed.

Later, geological engineer Fuzuli Yagmurlu from Suleyman Demirel University in Turkiye's southwestern Isparta province inspected the fossils and found that the figures were formed by remains of an extinct mussel-like megalodon that lived in the marine ecosystem 195 million years ago.

A megalodon has a thick mussel-like double shell, Yagmurlu said, adding that the shape of their fossils is similar to that of a human heart.

Yagmur Eren, an export specialist of the marble factory, told Anadolu Agency that the workers noticed a different image on the surface of the stone.

Eren said it is the first time they have had encountered such an incident in the marble quarry, adding: "We are currently exhibiting the marble in the quarry here."