Fun Coelurosauravus Facts For Kids

The Coelurisauravus (meaning 'hollow lizard grandfather') was one of the early gliding reptiles that lived in the upper Permian or late Permian period. The fossils of this dinosaur were first collected in 1907-1908 by J.-M. Colcanap, a captain of the French colonial infantry. The known locations include Madagascar, Germany, and Europe. The skull wings and crest are the most special features of the Coelurosauravus. The skull modification which they found is not seen in many other similar reptiles. The type species C elivenis was named by Jean Piveteau in 1926. It is also known as a Daedalosaurus and Madagascariensis carroll. Did you know, this reptile resembles the green iguana and had a powered flight.

To know more fun facts about the Coelurosauravus keep reading and do check out our other articles on Kotasaurus and Ajkaceratops.

How do you pronounce 'Coelurosauravus'?

Coelurosauravus is one of the hardest reptiles names to pronounce. The phonetic pronunciation of the word is 'see-la-ro-saw-rau-vas'.

What type of dinosaur was a Coelurosauravus?

The Coelurosauravus belonged to the genus of basal diapsid reptiles. It is a late Permian reptile belonging to the family Weigeltisauridae and genus Coelurosauravus.

In which geological period did the Coelurosauravus roam the earth?

The Coelurosauravus romed on earth in the Late Permian period. This period is significant because it is only at this time when all of the earth's plates fused to form one enormous continent known as Pangaea. During this time, a wide range of animals such as brachiopods, cephalopods, and many others were living. This epoch had one of the greatest mass extinctions the planet has ever witnessed. Coelurosauravus jaekeli, known from a complete skeleton, was the oldest flying reptile in this period.

When did the Coelurosauravus become extinct?

The Coelurosauravus lived 260 million years ago to 250 million years ago. After the Late Permian period, this gliding reptile species became extinct. One of the major reasons for their extinction was climatic changes and global warming. Pangaea, the growing supercontinent, faced tremendous climatic and environmental extremes due to its massive size. The south was bitterly cold and desolate, with ice sheets covering most of the country. This made breathing difficult for these animals. The Coelurosauravus was already vulnerable to cold temperatures, hastening its extinction.

Where did a Coelurosauravus live?

The specific location of where the Coelurosauravus lived is unknown, although it is most likely from the canopy sections of Mount Eliva in the upstream portion of the Sakamena River, a tributary of Onilahy River (Madagascar). The specimen of C elivensis is known from the Sakamena formation in Madagascar. The fossils of C jaekeli were found in Europe and Germany.

What was a Coelurosauravus' habitat?

This gliding reptile species is thought to have lived in forest regions and tree canopies probably surrounded by a lake since the remains of this formation were discovered in a wetland habitat situated inside a north-south oriented rift valley, maybe comparable to Lake Tanganyika. They must have lived like a flying squirrel leaping from one tree to another. There were numerous plant and animal fossils proving this.

Who did a Coelurosauravus live with?

The Coelurosauravus may have lived alone or in groups. It is a personal preference. They did not, however, adhere to one path throughout their lives and have enjoyed aspects of both. It was natural for family members to stray off after a while.

How long did a Coelurosauravus live?

The entire Coelurosauravus clan occupied the earth for around 10-12 million years. The exact lifespan of this gliding reptile species is not known.

How did they reproduce?

The Coelorausuravus is one of the most underappreciated species since it is just a gliding lizard, unlike a flying bird or a dinosaur. Several facts regarding the wings and the reproduction process have not been thoroughly researched. As a result, determining how they would have reproduced with this amount of knowledge is challenging.

What did a Coelurosauravus look like?

The Coelurosauravus was a tiny dinosaur, barely a little longer than your arm. It featured a lizard-like head and a long and flat body. It had a pointed snout and a broad back with a serrated crest. These crests were similar to those of ceratopsian dinosaurs. It also possessed two massive wing-like appendages on its torso which helped it to glide and have a powered flight. Because of its streamlined form, the body of this species is easily comparable to that of present-day lizards.

We've been unable to source an image of a Coelurosauravus and have used an image of a Weigeltisaurus instead. If you are able to provide us with a royalty-free image of a Coelurosauravus, we would be happy to credit you. Please contact us at [email protected].

How many bones did a Coelurosauravus have?

The exact number of bones is not known. Their skeleton and bone structures included well-preserved cranial decoration on the skull. This also included the spikes and the horned frill present on the squamosal bone. On the parietal bone, only tubercles were present. There were around 29 lengthy, shaft bones protruding from the body's sides. These bones are said to be the modified gastralia or a new dermal ossification. The specimen of Coelurosauravus jaekeli consisted of a partial skeleton, ribs, limbs, vertebrae, and gliding or flying bone structures.

How did they communicate?

Their style of communication is a fusion of modern bird and reptile sounds. They communicated with different chirping vocalizations. They might have utilized their wing-like structures to communicate sexually.

How big was a Coelurosauravus?

The length across the flight wings of this gliding reptile is estimated to be 1 ft (0.3 m) and the length from head to tail was 16 in (40 cm). The height of this specimen was around 2 ft (0.6 m) tall.

How fast could a Coelurosauravus move?

This mobility of this species was greatly influenced by the form of its limbs. It aided them in getting a firm grip on tree barks, which was ideal for quick tree movements. They would not, however, have been fast movers on land. The bony rods present on the wing-like structure were pliable to a great extent. This along with the long and flat body contributed to the swift glide as well as powered flight on-air within their surroundings.

How much did a Coelurosauravus weigh?

These gliding reptiles weighed around 1 lb (0.45 kg).

What were the male and female names of the species?

No specific names were given to the males and females. They were both called Coelurosauravus.

What would you call a baby Coelurosauravus?

A baby reptile doesn't have a special name either. Just like the parents, it was also called Coelurosauravus.

What did they eat?

There weren't many stomach remnants in the fossil found. However, based on the basic development of their teeth, it was determined that they were insectivores. 

How aggressive were they?

They were not as ferocious as other dinosaurs. Moderate violent behavior was exhibited when hunting.

Did you know...

The most preserved skull skeleton belonged to Coelurosauravus jaekeli.

The bony rods which were presumed to be ribs at first were later discovered to be newly developed bones that were unique to the Weigeltisaurus.

Other plants that might have lived alongside the Coelurosauravus are equisetalean Schizoneura, the glossopterid gymnosperm Glossopteris, and seed fern Lepidopteris and animals include the palaeoniscoid fish Atherstonia, the procolophonid parareptile Barasaurus, the neodiapsids Hovasaurus, Claudiosaurus, Thadeosaurus, and Acerodontosaurus.

Coelurosauravus, the gliding reptile has the smallest skull of all Weigeltisaurids.

In an attempt to scare predators, this reptile either opened its wing-like structures suddenly to startle them. The gliding mechanism was used to escape the predators.

Initially Weigeltisaurus jaekeli was said to be a separate species of Coelurosauravus, Coelurosauravus jaekeli. But later studies revealed that Weigeltisaurus jaekeli was a valid genus.

Coelurosauravus was closely related to Weigeltisaurus. The tail was the most well-preserved structure of the specimen.

Like Weigeltisaurus jaekeli, several species belonging to other genera were also assigned under coelursauravus .

Different specimens were found in different locations like Madagascar , Germany, and England.

What does 'Coelurosauravus' mean?

The 'Coelurosauravus' meaning is 'hollow lizard grandfather'. The initial half of their name comes from the fact that a lot of hollow rod-shaped bones protruded from their body to support the wing-like membrane. This is a significant feature. The second half of the name, lizard, is based upon the fact that they resemble modern-day lizards. The Coelurosauravus is credited with inventing backboned gliding and being the first and the only gliding reptile species to have such magnificent wings. It was given the name grandfather since Coelurosauravus was the progenitor of backbone flying.

Was the Coelurosauravus slimy?

Another unstudied characteristic of this gliding species was its skin. Information on the skin type of related dinosaurs is also vague. As a result, we don't know if their skin was slimy.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly dinosaur facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other creatures from our Campylognathoides facts and Dravidosaurus fun facts for kids.

You can even occupy yourself at home by coloring in one of our free printable Coelurosauravus dinosaur coloring pages.

Main image by Nobu Tamura

Second image by Scott Reid