Permo-triassic "lizards" from the Karoo System. Part II: A gliding reptile from the upper Permian of Madagascar
Year: 1977
Type: article
Abstract: Daedalosaurus madagascariensis, gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Permian of Madagascar is a \nsmall reptile in which the trunk ribs are greatly elongated to support a gliding "membrane" \nsimilar to those in the Upper Triassic lizards Kuehneosaurus and lcarosaurus, and the living agamid \nDraco. The membrane is supported by 21 pairs of ribs compared with five to seven in Draco, ten \nin lcarosaurus and 11 in Kuehneosaurus. The total body mass is estimated as 250 grams, the area of \nthe membrane nearly 200 cm2, with a wing loading of approximately 1,25 g/cm2. A second \nspecies in the fauna, belonging to the same family, Coelurosauravus elivensis Piveteau, has a very \nsimilar appendicular skeleton, but ribs of normal proportions. The maxillary dentition of Coelurosauravus \nis acrodont, that of Daedalosaurus pleurodont. In neither genus is the temporal region \nof the skull adequately known, although the configuration of the jugal in Daedalosaurus suggests \nthat the lower temporal bar may be reduced. The primitive nature of the appendicular skeleton, \nwith little evidence or the specializations seen in contemporary lizards, suggests that these genera \nshould not be classified among the Squamata, but among the Eosuchia.
Author: Robert L. Carroll
Language: English
Subfield: Paleontology
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: McGill University
OpenAlex ID: W2282147059