Paleontologists discover teeth of sharks that inhabited Atyrau region's territory 50mln years ago
A paleontological expedition uncovered vertebrae of the reptiles that lived 160 million years ago and teeth of sharks that inhabited mountain massifs of Atyrau region 50 million years ago, Kazinform News Agency reports.
From August 7 to 18, the expedition, organized by the Atyrau Museum of Local History and led by professor Kazhymurat Akhmedenov, explored the cretaceous massifs of Akkegershin, Aktolagai, Koikara, Imankara, and Sholkara mountain ranges.
“We have gathered 511 samples of paleofauna and paleoflora. 259 samples belong to vertebrates, 229 belong to invertebrates, and 18 samples are fossils. During the expedition, we found unique remains of the Upper Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic Era. In this area, we discovered the vertebrae of the reptiles that lived 160 million years ago, teeth and vertebrae of the sharks of the Paleogene Period, fish tail fins, petrified tree samples, teeth of Otodus sharks that lived 50 million years ago, as well as fragments of belemnites, bivalves and sea urchins,” Kazhymurat Akhmedenov says.
According to him, Sholkara hill in Zhylyoi district located 130 kilometers southeast of Kulsary, is a unique place of paleontological findings.
“In 1931, paleontologist Ryabinin discovered vertebrae of dinosaurs of the Cretaceous period. He described it as “Embasaurus” or “Emba lizard.” We consider Embasaurus as a paleontological brand of Atyrau region, a unique finding for the science. A scientific conclusion will be made following the expedition. In future, we need to establish the types of animals that lived in the territory of Atyrau region,” says professor Akhmedenov.
