Sharovipteryx

Sharovipteryx
Temporal range: Middle Triassic-Late Triassic, 225 Ma
↓
Cast of the holotype specimen
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Clade: Archosauromorpha
Family: †Sharovipterygidae
Genus: †Sharovipteryx
Cowen, 1981
Type species
†Sharovipteryx mirabilis
(Sharov, 1971)
Synonyms

Sharovipteryx ("Sharov's wing", known until 1981 as Podopteryx, "foot wing") is a genus of early gliding reptiles containing the single species Sharovipteryx mirabilis. It is known from a single fossil and is the only glider with a membrane surrounding the pelvis instead of the pectoral girdle. This lizard-like reptile was found in 1965 in the Madygen Formation, Dzailauchou, on the southwest edge of the Fergana Valley in Kyrgyzstan, in what was then the Asian part of the U.S.S.R.[1] dating to the middle-late Triassic period (about 225 million years ago). The Madygen horizon displays flora that put it in the Upper Triassic.[1] An unusual reptile, Longisquama, was also found there.

S. mirabilis is known from a unique holotype specimen, which was first described by Aleksandr Grigorevich Sharov in 1971.[2] Sharov named the species Podopteryx mirabilis, "foot wing", for the wing membranes on the hind limbs. However, that name had previously been used for a genus of damselfly, Podopteryx, so in 1981 Richard Cowen[3] created the new genus name Sharovipteryx for the species.

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference gans was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Sharov, A. G. 1971. New flying reptiles from the Mesozoic of Kazakhstan and Kirghizia. – Transactions of the Paleontological Institute, Akademia Nauk, USSR, Moscow, 130: 104–113 [in Russian].
  3. ^ Richard Cowen (1981). "Homonyms of Podopteryx". Journal of Paleontology. 55 (2): 483.