During the Permian Period (299–252 million years ago) ...

May 20, 2021

During the Permian Period (299–252 million years ago), reptiles were small and relatively rare parts of Earth's ecosystems. Only after the major extinction at the end of the Permian, 252 million years ago, did reptiles and dinosaurs rise to dominance. Learning about the rare Permian reptiles is essential to truly understanding the origins of the Age of Dinosaurs.

Among the weirdest of early reptiles are the WEIGELTISAURIDS, a family of very rare, lizard-like animals with horned skulls and rod-like bones that supported a gliding membrane. Fewer than a dozen weigeltisaurid skeletons have been discovered.

In a scientific paper just published in the journal PeerJ, VMNH Assistant Curator of Paleontology Dr. Adam Pritchard and a team of researchers (Dr. Hans-Dieter Sues of the Smithsonian Institution, Ms. Diane Scott and Dr. Robert Reisz of the University of Toronto) describe the most complete skeleton of Weigeltisaurus ever found. The specimen comes from Permian rocks of Germany and allows for the most rigorous reconstruction of one of these animals to date.

This skeleton shows multiple strange features, such as pointed horns framing the back of the skull behind the eyes, a long, slender, lizard-like body with sprawling arms and legs, and extremely long and slender finger and toe bones, similar to modern climbing lizards.

Additionally, the skeleton includes over 40 rod-like bones independent of the ribs that form the skeleton of gliding wings. These would have stuck out from the left and right sides of the chest region. These bones are COMPLETELY UNIQUE to weigeltisaurids, as most other gliding reptiles use elongated rib bones to support the skin of gliding wings.

Want to learn more about these reptiles and the research conducted by Dr. Pritchard and his team? Read the entire paper at https://peerj.com/articles/11413/!