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CAIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL & CULTURAL NEWS OF IRANIAN WORLD© |
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First Hipparion Fossil Discovery in Maragheh
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06 July 2006 |
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| Cormohipparion Goorisi | Cormohipparion Equini | Cormohipparion Sphenodus |
LONDON, (CAIS) -- Maragheh fossil site in North-West of Iran for the first time led to the discovery of Hipparion fossils, head of the team conducting research on vertebra fossils in the northwestern city said.
Hipparion is an extinct genus of Tertiary mammals allied to the horse, but
three-toed, having on each foot a small lateral hoof on each side of the main
central one. It is believed to be one of the ancestral genera of the Horse
family.
Zeynolabedin Pur-Abrishami told news reporters that the newly-found fossils belong to Cormohipparion Equini, Cormohipparion goorisi and Cormohipparion sphenodus species of Hipparions.
He added that apart from North America, discovery of this type of horse fossils
have not been reported anywhere else.
The expert further noted that the fossilized bones hint that the history of
Maragheh stretches back 13 million years.
So far, experts have come across fossils of horse, gazelle, elephant, giraffe
and rhinoceros while carrying out excavations at the 1,000-sq.m. site.
With a population of 250,000, Maragheh is located in southwest of East
Azarbaijan provin
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"History is the Light on the Path to Future" |
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Encyclopaedia Iranica
The British Institute of Persian Studies "Persepolis Reconstructed"
The British Museum
The Royal Asiatic Society
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