Agilisaurus is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic Period of what is now eastern Asia. It was about 3.5–4 ft long, 2 ft in height and 40 kg in weight.
Huayangosaurus is a genus of stegosaurian dinosaur from the Middle Jurassic of China. The name derives from "Huayang" (華陽), an alternate name for Sichuan, and "saurus", meaning "lizard". It lived during the Bathonian to Callovian stages, around 165 million years ago, some 20 million years before its famous relative, Stegosaurus appeared in North America. At only approximately 4 metres (13 ft) long, it was also much smaller than its famous cousin. Found in the Lower Shaximiao Formation, Huayangosaurus shared the local Middle Jurassic landscape with the sauropods Shunosaurus, Datousaurus, Omeisaurus and Protognathosaurus, the ornithopod Xiaosaurus and the carnivorous Gasosaurus.
Lexovisaurus is a genus of stegosaur from mid-to-Late Jurassic Europe, 165.7-164.7 mya. Fossils of limb bones and armor fragments have been found in middle to late Jurassic-aged strata of England.
Ferganocephale is a dubious genus of neornithischian dinosaur. It was from the Middle Jurassic Balabansai Svita of Kyrgyzstan. The type and only species is F. adenticulatum.
Prenoceratops, is a genus of ceratopsian dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Period. It was a relatively small dinosaur, reaching 1.3 m (4.3 ft) in length and 20 kg (44 lb) in body mass. Its fossils have been found in the upper Two Medicine Formation in the present-day U.S. state of Montana, in Campanian age rock layers that have been dated to 74.3 million years ago. Fossils were also found in the Oldman Formation in the modern day Canadian province of Alberta, dating to around 77 million years ago.
Poekilopleuron is a genus of tetanuran dinosaur, which lived during the middle Bathonian of the Jurassic, about 168 to 166 million years ago. The genus has been used under many different spelling variants, although only one, Poekilopleuron, is valid. The type species is P. bucklandii, named after William Buckland, and many junior synonyms of it have also been erected. Few material is currently known, as the holotype was destroyed in World War II, although many casts of the material still exist.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2003.
Augustasaurus is a genus of aquatic sauropterygian reptile belonging to the Pistosauria, a clade containing plesiosaurs and their close relatives. Pistosaurus and Augustasaurus were thought to be the only known members of the family Pistosauridae. However, some recent cladistic analyses found Augustasaurus to be a more advanced pistosaur, as a sister group of the order Plesiosauria. The only known species of Augustasaurus is Augustasaurus hagdorni, which was first described in 1997.
Gobiops is an extinct genus of temnospondyl from the Jurassic of Mongolia, China, and possibly Kyrgyzstan. The genus is represented by a single species, Gobiops desertus. It was named in 1991 from the Late Jurassic Shar Teeg Beds of Mongolia. Additional material was described in 2005 from the Middle Jurassic Toutunhe Formation in the Junggar Basin of China. Gobiops belongs to the family Brachyopidae. The poorly known genus Ferganobatrachus, named in 1990 from Shar Teeg, is probably synonymous with Gobiops.
Cteniogenys is a genus of choristodere, a morphologically diverse group of aquatic reptiles. It is part of the monotypic family Cteniogenidae. The type and only named species, C. antiquus, was named in 1928 by Charles W. Gilmore. The holotype, VP.001088, was collected in the Morrison Formation, Wyoming in 1881 by William H. Reed. More specimens have been discovered since then, including specimens from the Late Jurassic of Portugal and Middle Jurassic of Britain, which have not been assigned to species.
Narynsuchus is an extinct genus of giant Goniopholidid Crocodylian. Because it has not yet been formally described, it is currently considered a nomen nudum. The name was first used in 1990 for fossil material found from a formation called the Balabansai Svita, which forms a lens in site FTA-30 of the Sarykamyshsai 1 locality in the Fergana Valley of Kyrgyzstan. The formation dates back to the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic. The type species of "Narynsuchus" is "N. ferganensis".Being semi-aquatic it is very similar to modern crocodiles. It ranged from 7–8 metres in length, and would have had a very similar lifestyle to the American alligator or Nile crocodile.
The Balabansai Formation is a geological formation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan whose strata date back to the Bathonian and Callovian stages of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. The lithology primarily consists of variegated sandstones, siltstones, claystones, and rare gravels and marls. Many taxa have been found in the formation, including amphibians and mammals
The Ialovachsk or Yalovach Formation is a geologic formation in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan dating to the Santonian age of the Cretaceous period.
The Itat Formation is a geologic formation in western Siberia. It was deposited in the Bajocian to Bathonian ages of the Middle Jurassic. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, including the proceratosaurid Kileskus, as well as fish, amphibians, mammals and many other vertebrates. The formation is noted for bearing significant coal reserves, with large open pit coal mines extracting lignite from the unit currently in operation.
Paritatodon is an extinct mammal which existed in Kyrgyzstan and England during the Jurassic period. It was originally the holotype specimen of Shuotherium kermacki, but Martin and Averianov (2010) argued that it resembled the genus Itatodon (Docodonta) and so renamed it Paritatodon.
Sunosuchus is an extinct genus of goniopholidid mesoeucrocodylian. Fossils are known from China, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand and are Jurassic in age, although some may be Early Cretaceous. Four species are currently assigned to the genus: the type species S. miaoi and the species S. junggarensis, S. shartegensis, and S. shunanensis. All species are from China. Goniopholis phuwiangensis, also from Thailand, was reassigned to Sunosuchus by Andrade et al. (2011). The material from Kyrgyzstan has not been assigned to any species.
Sineleutherus is an extinct genus of euharamiyids which existed in Asia during the Jurassic period. The type species is Sineleutherus uyguricus, which was described by Thomas Martin, Alexander O. Averianov and Hans-Ulrich Pfretzschner in 2010; it lived in what is now China during the late Jurassic Qigu Formation. A second species, Sineleutherus issedonicus, was described by A. O. Averianov, A. V. Lopatin and S. A. Krasnolutskii in 2011. It lived in what is now Sharypovsky District during the middle Jurassic ; its fossils were collected from the upper part of the Itat Formation. However, this is now believed to represent several euharamiyid taxa not closey related to Sineleutherus.
Tashkumyrodon is an extinct mammaliaform from the Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Balabansai Formation of Kyrgyzstan It is named after the town of Tash-Kömür, near where the original specimen was found. It belongs to the order Docodonta and is closely related to Sibirotherium and Tegotherium. There is only one species currently known, Tashkumyrodon desideratus.
Simpsonodon is an extinct genus of docodontan mammaliaform known from the Middle Jurassic of England, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The type species S. oxfordensis was described from the Kirtlington Mammal Bed and Watton Cliff in the Forest Marble Formation of England. It was named after George Gaylord Simpson, a pioneering mammalologist and contributor to the Modern Evolutionary Synthesis. A second species S. sibiricus is known from the Itat Formation of Russia, and indeterminate species of the genus are also known from the Balabansai Formation in Kyrgyzstan
