Permo-triassic "lizards" from the Karoo System. Part II: A gliding reptile from the upper Permian of Madagascar

Abstract

Daedalosaurus madagascariensis, gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Permian of Madagascar is a small reptile in which the trunk ribs are greatly elongated to support a gliding "membrane" similar to those in the Upper Triassic lizards Kuehneosaurus and lcarosaurus, and the living agamid Draco. The membrane is supported by 21 pairs of ribs compared with five to seven in Draco, ten in lcarosaurus and 11 in Kuehneosaurus. The total body mass is estimated as 250 grams, the area of the membrane nearly 200 cm2, with a wing loading of approximately 1,25 g/cm2. A second species in the fauna, belonging to the same family, Coelurosauravus elivensis Piveteau, has a very similar appendicular skeleton, but ribs of normal proportions. The maxillary dentition of Coelurosauravus is acrodont, that of Daedalosaurus pleurodont. In neither genus is the temporal region of the skull adequately known, although the configuration of the jugal in Daedalosaurus suggests that the lower temporal bar may be reduced. The primitive nature of the appendicular skeleton, with little evidence or the specializations seen in contemporary lizards, suggests that these genera should not be classified among the Squamata, but among the Eosuchia.