Balkanatolia: the forgotten continent that sheds light on
the evolution of mammals, CNRS News, February 22, 2022
[www.cnrs.fr]

Scientists find continent Balkanatolia that may explain
evolution of mammals. UPI, February 22, 2022
[www.upi.com]

Scientists Discover the Long-Lost Continent ‘Balkanatolia’
The landmass existed 40 million years ago and may have
facilitated the migration of Asian mammals into Europe.
Becky Ferreira, Vice, February 23, 2022
[www.vice.com]

The paper is:

Licht, A., Metais, G., Coster, P., Ibilioglu, D., Ocakoglu,
F., Westerweel, J., Mueller, M., Campbell, C., Mattingly,
S., Wood, M.C. and Beard, K.C., 2022. Balkanatolia: The
insular mammalian biogeographic province that partly paved
the way to the Grande Coupure. Earth-Science Reviews, no.103929.

From abstract:

“The Grande Coupure corresponds to a major episode of
faunal turnover in western Europe around the Eocene-
Oligocene boundary that is generally attributed to the influx
of multiple clades of Asian mammals.

Eocene–Oligocene extinction event
[en.wikipedia.org]–Oligocene_extinction_event

“The Grande Coupure, or "great break" in continuity, with
a major European turnover in mammalian fauna about 33.5 Ma.

Yours,

Paul H.

"The past is never dead. It's not even past."
William Faulkner, Act 1, Scene III, Requiem for a Nun (1951)