Weigeltisauridae
Sign in to saveWeigeltisauridae is a family of gliding neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian, between 259.51 and 251.9 million years ago. Fossils of weigeltisaurids have been found in Madagascar, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. They are characterized by long, hollow rod-shaped bones dubbed "patagials", which are unique to weigeltisaurids, extending from the torso that are suggested to have supported wing-like membranes. Similar membranes are also found in several other extinct reptiles such as kuehneosaurids and Mecistotrachelos, as well as living gliding lizards, although each group evo
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Encyclopedic overview
7 sectionsContents
- Description
- Paleobiology
- Gliding
- Taxonomy
- Species
- Relationships to other reptiles
- References
Weigeltisauridae is a family of gliding neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian, between 259.51 and 251.9 million years ago. Fossils of weigeltisaurids have been found in Madagascar, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. They are characterized by long, hollow rod-shaped bones dubbed "patagials", which are unique to weigeltisaurids, extending from the torso that are suggested to have supported wing-like membranes. Similar membranes are also found in several other extinct reptiles such as kuehneosaurids and Mecistotrachelos, as well as living gliding lizards, although each group evolved these structures independently.
== Description ==
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Weigeltisauridae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.