1． Zoological Institute of the Ｒussian Academy of Sciences，Saint Petersburg 199034，Ｒussia; 2． Laboratory of Mesozoic and Cenozoic Continental Ecosystems，Tomsk State University，Tomsk 634050，Ｒussia; 3． Steinmann-Institut für Geologie，Mineralogie und Palontologie，Universitt Bonn，Bonn 3115，Germany; 4． Vertebrate Zoology Department，Saint Petersburg State University，Saint Petersburg 199034，Ｒussia; 5． Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy，University of Chicago，Chicago，IL 60637，USA; 6． Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Ｒussian Academy of Sciences，Moscow 117997，Ｒussia; 7． Sharypovo Ｒegional Museum，Sharypovo，Krasnoyarsk Territory 662311，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 flood- plain 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，anu- rans，caudates，turtles，squamates，choristoderans，crocodyliforms，pterosaurs，dinosaurs，tritylodontids，and a diverse mammaliaform and mammalian assemblage ( eleutherodontids，docodontans，? amphilestids，dryo- lestids，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 mem- ber 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 provin- cialism in the Middle Jurassic Laurasian landmass．