Pycnofibers on Sharovipteryx – Another hairy lizard!
Yesterday we noted pterosaur-like pycnofibers (ptero-hairs) on Longsiquama. Here we find them also on Sharovipteryx (Figs. 1, 2), further cementing their relationship to pterosaurs like Sordes, Jeholopterus and others that preserve these extradermal hairs.
Figure 1. Click to enlarge. Pycnofibers (extradermal tissues) on Sharovipteryx. Formerly such hair-like extradermal membranes were recognized only in pterosaurs. Now they are in found in more basal fenestrasaurs. Surely these were no ordinary lizards! Warm-blooded? You decide. On the right the fibers are more easily seen. On the left (bottom) these are less distinct. They all criss-cross and seem “thick” to me, thicker than fur on mammals, for instance.
If these patterns were wrinkles in neck skin, they would not criss-cross as they do here. They are fiber-like or hair-like and as such may have functioned in thermoregulation, as did the extensive uropatagia behind each hind limb. More likely both were part of their elaborate displays and likely were brightly or contrasted in color and value.
Figure 2. Sharovipteryx mirabilis in various views. No pycnofibers added yet. Click to learn more.
Start making Sharovipteryx hairy, guyz! It joins pterosaurs in being kinda fuzzy, especially around the neck.
References
Sharov AG 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].
2013-03-06 12:00:52
Source: http://pterosaurheresies.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/pycnofibers-on-sharovipteryx-another-hairy-lizard/
Source:
