Sharovipteryx

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 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][4]created the new genus name Sharovipteryx for the species.