MAKHACHKALA, July 6 – RIA "Dagestan". Fragments of an ancient whale skeleton, prehistoric ripple marks and coprolites were among the remarkable finds made during the first day of a new paleontological expedition launched by the A. Takho-Godi National Museum in Makhachkala. The expedition's primary objectives are to study geological formations, collect data for scientific attribution and enrich the museum's exhibits. Exploring the Miocene deposits on the western slopes of Mount Tarki-Tau, the village of Agach-aul and nearby territories on the outskirts of Makhachkala, the research team discovered a whale's lower jaw and caudal vertebra, alongside invertebrate imprints, bivalve shells and other rare ancient fossils.
Implemented in partnership with Nizhne-Chuglinsky Paleontological Museum and Moscow's A.A. Borisyak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the expedition features a diverse team of experts. The group is headed by Muslimat Khalimbekova, Deputy Director for Science at the National Museum of Dagestan.
The roster also includes Konstantin Tarasenko (Candidate of Biological Sciences and Chief Curator at the Yu.A. Orlov Paleontological Museum), Omar Khapisov (Head of Nizhne-Chuglinsky Paleontological Museum), Tagir Balguev (Candidate of Geographical Sciences, geographer and mountaineering instructor), Musa Gaivaronsky (museum exhibition specialist) and Elmira Bilalova (head of the "CaspianExpress" youth center).
The researchers' planned route spans the outskirts of Makhachkala, Izberbash, Derbent, the village of Manas in the Karabudakhkentsky District as well as Levashinsky, Akushinsky, Gunibsky and Laksky districts.