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A gliding reptile from the Upper Permian of North East England

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Abstract

In July 1978 an unusual fossil reptile was discovered by D. Hall and myself 1.5 cm above the base of the Upper Permian Marl Slate at Eppleton Quarry near Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear (NZ 351484). The sapropelic Marl Slate, the first member of the English Zechstein succession, is a marine deposit well known for its fossil fish (mainly palaeoniscids) and land-derived plants1. The only recorded reptilian remains Consist of two incomplete skeletons of Protorosaurus2. The new find is an incomplete skeleton (the skull, forelimbs and most of the tail have been destroyed by quarrying), 17 cm long, of a terrestrial reptile washed into the Zechstein Sea. It is especially interesting for its elongated and jointed dorsal ribs interpreted as an adaptation for the support of two membranes to enable the reptile either to parachute or more probably glide in a manner similar to the modern gliding lizard Draco of South East Asia3.

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  1. Sunderland Museum, Borough Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, WC1, UK

    T. H. Pettigrew

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  1. T. H. Pettigrew
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Pettigrew, T. A gliding reptile from the Upper Permian of North East England. Nature 281, 297–298 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/281297a0

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