Coelurosauravus
Coelurosauravus (meaning "hollow-tailed lizard grandfather") is an extinct genus of gliding reptile, known from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Like other members of the family Weigeltisauridae, members of this genus possessed long, rod-like ossifications projecting outwards from the body. These bony rods were not extensions of the ribs but were instead a feature unique to weigeltisaurids. It is believed that during life, these structures formed folding wings used for gliding flight, similar to living gliding Draco lizards.
Article
9 sectionsContents
- History of discovery
- List of specimens
- Description
- Paleobiology
- Gliding
- Paleoenvironment
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Coelurosauravus (meaning "hollow-tailed lizard grandfather") is an extinct genus of gliding reptile, known from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Like other members of the family Weigeltisauridae, members of this genus possessed long, rod-like ossifications projecting outwards from the body. These bony rods were not extensions of the ribs but were instead a feature unique to weigeltisaurids. It is believed that during life, these structures formed folding wings used for gliding flight, similar to living gliding Draco lizards.
Coelurosauravus is solely known from the type species, C. elivensis, which was named by Jean Piveteau in 1926 based on fossils from the Lower Sakamena Formation of Madagascar. The species Weigeltisaurus jaekeli from Europe was formerly considered a species of Coelurosauravus, but is now placed in its own genus.