''Ferganasaurus'' (meaning "

Fergana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Republics of the Soviet Union, Soviet republics, the valley is e ...

lizard") was a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...

first formally described in 2003 by Alifanov and Averianov. The

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

is ''Ferganasaurus verzilini''. It was a

sauropod Sauropoda (), whose members are known as sauropods (; from '' sauro-'' + '' -pod'', 'lizard-footed'), is a clade of saurischian ('lizard-hipped') dinosaurs. Sauropods had very long necks, long tails, small heads (relative to the rest of their b ...

similar to ''

Rhoetosaurus ''Rhoetosaurus'' (meaning "Rhoetos lizard"), named after Rhoetus, a titan in Greek mythology, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Jurassic ( Oxfordian) Walloon Coal Measures of what is now eastern Australia. ''Rhoetosaurus'' is estimated ...

''. ''Ferganasaurus'' is known exclusively from the

Balabansai Formation The Balabansai Formation (sometimes transcribed Balabansay, also known as Balabansai Svita) is a geological formation in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan whose strata date back to the Bathonian and Callovian stages of the Middle Jurassic. ...

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia lying in the Tian Shan and Pamir Mountains, Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Kyrgyzstan, largest city. Kyrgyz ...

, which dates to the

Callovian In the geologic timescale, the Callovian is an age and stage in the Middle Jurassic, lasting between 165.3 ± 1.1 Ma (million years ago) and 161.5 ± 1.0 Ma. It is the last stage of the Middle Jurassic, following the Bathonian and preceding the ...

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

of the

Middle Jurassic The Middle Jurassic is the second Epoch (geology), epoch of the Jurassic Period (geology), Period. It lasted from about 174.1 to 161.5 million years ago. Fossils of land-dwelling animals, such as dinosaurs, from the Middle Jurassic are relativel ...

Discovery and naming

The holotype, PIN N 3042/1 (two dorsal and sixteen caudal vertebrae, a pelvis and limb bones), was discovered in 1966 by Kurzanov and Rhozdestvensky in

(

)-aged rocks from the

, but it was subsequently lost with only drawings of the holotype remaining. A 2000 expedition into the Balabansai Formation yielded a second specimen of ''Ferganasaurus'', but despite this new material, and the drawings of the originals, no

cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Thi ...

material has ever been attributed to ''Ferganasaurus''. In 2003, the species ''Ferganasaurus verzilini'' was described by Alifanov & Averianov.

Description

''Ferganasaurus'' grew up to long with an estimated body mass of .Paul, G.S., 2010, '' The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs'', Princeton University Press p. 339

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20050830082006/http://palaeo.gly.bris.ac.uk/dinobase/Yrs2000.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20070928020945/http://www.courier.com.ru/priroda/pr1003new_31.htm Sauropoda Dinosaur genera Callovian dinosaurs Taxa named by Alexander O. Averianov Fossil taxa described in 2003 Dinosaurs of Asia {{Sauropodomorph-stub