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Excavations near the Yamula Dam in Kayseri, central Türkiye, have revealed a fossil belonging to a saber-toothed tiger estimated to be 7.7 million years old. The discovery was announced by Professor Oksan Basoglu from Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University’s Faculty of Letters, Department of Anthropology, who emphasized the exceptional importance of the find for understanding the region’s prehistoric life.
Kayseri Mayor Memduh Buyukkilic, who visited the excavation site with members of the scientific advisory board, highlighted the scale of discoveries made in the area. He underlined that the remains of ancestors of elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, three-toed horses, and hyenas have already been identified. He pointed in particular to elephant skulls, which he described as especially significant.
The mayor also confirmed that construction of a dedicated museum to exhibit these fossils is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of next year. At the site, he symbolically joined excavation work and observed a 3D-printed reconstruction of a giraffe fossil.
Professor Basoglu explained that the excavation area is extraordinarily rich in fossils, attracting the participation of international scientists. She noted that three scientific publications have already been produced because many of the fossils uncovered so far have no parallels elsewhere in the world.
She described this excavation season as particularly productive, revealing a skull of a three-trunked mammal—a discovery she called “a miracle to find in a single season.” Basoglu added that the specimen is currently being examined in the laboratory and that researchers may soon be able to identify a completely new species.
Among the season’s discoveries, Basoglu highlighted the saber-toothed tiger fossil as one of the most striking. She said: “The other important find this year was the saber-toothed tiger. It was the dominant predator of the Late Miocene. The length of its canine teeth reaches up to 25–30 centimeters. It was a very large animal, but it is extinct today.”
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