Middle Jurassic vertebrate assemblage of Berezovsk coal mine in western Siberia (Russia)

The Berezovsk coal mine in western Siberia has yielded the most diverse Middle Jurassic limnic and terrestrial vertebrate assemblage of Asia. The vertebrate remains were recovered by screen washing from floodplain deposits on top of a thick coal seam of the Bathonian Itat Formation. A total of 29 vertebrate taxa has been recorded so far,including hybodontiform sharks,acipenseriforms,palaeonisciforms,amiiforms,dipnoans,anurans,caudates,turtles,squamates,choristoderans,crocodyliforms,pterosaurs,dinosaurs,tritylodontids,and a diverse mammaliaform and mammalian assemblage( eleutherodontids,docodontans,? amphilestids,dryolestids,and zatherians). The caudates are among the oldest in the fossil record and the anurans represent the oldest Asian record of this group. Among the mammals,Anthracolestes is the oldest and most basal known member of Dryolestidae and so far the only record from Asia. The vertebrate assemblage from the Berezovsk coal mine is very similar to that from the British Forest Marble Formation( Bathonian) and suggests a limited provincialism in the Middle Jurassic Laurasian landmass.