''Sharovipteryx'' ("Sharov's wing", known until 1981 as ''Podopteryx'', "foot wing"), is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
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
The Madygen Formation (Russian: Madygen Svita) is a Late Triassic (Carnian) geologic formation and Lagerstätte in the Batken and Osh Regions of western Kyrgyzstan, with minor outcrops in neighboring Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The conglomerates, ...
, Dzailauchou, on the southwest edge of the
Fergana Valley
The Fergana Valley (; ; ) in Central Asia lies mainly in eastern Uzbekistan, but also extends into southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan.
Divided into three republics of the former Soviet Union, the valley is ethnically diverse and in the ...
in
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the east. ...
, in what was then the Asian part of the U.S.S.R.
dating to the middle-late
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
period (about 225 million years ago). The Madygen horizon displays flora that put it in the Upper Triassic.
An unusual reptile, ''
Longisquama
''Longisquama'' is a genus of extinct reptile. There is only one species, ''Longisquama insignis'', known from a poorly preserved skeleton and several incomplete fossil impressions from the Middle to Late Triassic Madygen Formation in Kyrgyzst ...
,'' was also found there.
''S. mirabilis'' is known from a unique
holotype
A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...
specimen, which was first described by
Aleksandr Grigorevich Sharov
Aleksandr Grigorevich Sharov (А.Г. Шаров, 1922–1973) was a Soviet palaeoentomologist, paleontologist and expert on Pterosauria. He graduated from Moscow State University. In 1951 he defended Candidate of Science dissertation on the embryo ...
in 1971.
[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 ]n Russian
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
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
Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...
, ''
Podopteryx'', so in 1981
Richard Cowen created the new genus name ''Sharovipteryx'' for the species.
Description
![Sharovipteryx Headden skeletal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Sharovipteryx_Headden_skeletal.png)
The skeleton is preserved in dorsal view and largely complete, with the bones still articulated and impressions of some of the integument. But part of the pectoral girdle is missing and part is still encased in stone.
In 1987, Gans ''et al.'' published a revised description: they found that the
patagium
The patagium (plural: patagia) is a membranous body part that assists an animal in obtaining lift when gliding or flight. The structure is found in extant and extinct groups of flying and gliding animals including bats, birds, some dromaeosaurs ...
did not extend to the forelimbs. Their experiments with models showed that the reptile could glide with its uropatagium and stabilize its glide by changing the angles of its forelimbs to provide an
aeronautic canard or by bending its tail up or down to produce
drag.
![Scharovipteryx22](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Sharovipteryx.jpg)
In 2006, Dyke ''et al.'' published a study on possible gliding techniques for ''Sharovipteryx''. The authors found that the wing membrane, which stretched between its very long hind legs and tail, would have allowed it to glide as a
delta wing
A delta wing is a wing shaped in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta (Δ).
Although long studied, it did not find significant applications until the Jet Age, when it proved suitabl ...
aircraft does. If the tiny front limbs also supported a membrane, they could have acted as a very efficient means of controlling pitch stability, very much like an
aeronautic canard. Without a forewing, the authors find, controlled gliding would have been very difficult. Together with the canards on the forelimbs, these anterior membranes may have formed excellent control surfaces for gliding. The area around the forelimbs was completely prepared away in the only known fossil, destroying any possible trace of a membrane there.
Classification
![Sharovipteryx holotype](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Sharovipteryx_holotype.jpg)
''Sharovipteryx'' is generally agreed to belong to a group of early
archosaur
Archosauria () is a clade of diapsids, with birds and crocodilians as the only living representatives. Archosaurs are broadly classified as reptiles, in the cladistic sense of the term which includes birds. Extinct archosaurs include non-avian d ...
relatives known as the
protorosaurs (or
prolacertiformes
Protorosauria is an extinct polyphyletic group of archosauromorph reptiles from the latest Middle Permian (Capitanian stage) to the end of the Late Triassic (Rhaetian stage) of Asia, Europe and North America. It was named by the English anatomis ...
).
A possible close relative of ''Sharovipteryx'', ''
Ozimek volans
''Ozimek'' (named after the Ozimek, town of the same name) is a genus of sharovipterygidae, sharovipterygid archosauromorpha, archosauromorph reptile, known from Late Triassic deposits in Poland and closely related to the Kyrgyzstani ''Sharovipt ...
'' was recovered as a member of the family
Tanystropheidae
Tanystropheidae is an extinct family of mostly marine archosauromorph reptiles that lived throughout the Triassic Period. They are characterized by their long, stiff necks formed from elongated cervical vertebrae with very long cervical ribs. So ...
in the phylogenetic analysis conducted by Pritchard &
Sues (2019); ''Sharovipteryx'' itself was not included in this analysis, but the authors considered it possible that both ''Ozimek'' and ''Sharovipteryx'' were nested within Tanystropheidae.
See also
* ''
Coelurosauravus
''Coelurosauravus'' (meaning "hollow lizard grandfather") is a genus of basal diapsid reptiles, known from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Like other members of the family Weigeltisauridae, members of this genus possessed long, rod-like ossifica ...
''
* ''
Draco volans
''Draco volans'', also commonly known as the common flying dragon, is a species of lizard in the family Agamidae. The species is endemic to Southeast Asia. www.reptile-database.org. Like other members of genus ''Draco'', this species has the ab ...
''
References
External links
First Delta-Wing Fighter Was a Reptile– LiveScience.com
JPG of the fossil from the Russian paleontological museum– Paleo.ru
Photograph of the type specimen, from the twitter account of Nickolay GnezdilovPhotograph of the type specimen, from the twitter account of Christian Kammerer
{{Taxonbar, from=Q131788
Prehistoric archosauromorphs
Prehistoric reptile genera
Carnian genera
Middle Triassic reptiles of Asia
Gliding animals
Fossils of Kyrgyzstan
Madygen Formation
Fossil taxa described in 1971