Bird-Faced Cose-Lizard

Cosesaurus aviceps

    The hot coastal swamps of Middle Triassic Europe are home to many archosaurs, amoung them Cosesaurus aviceps.  This creature is a small, insectivorous biped with pterosaur-like feet and is, in fact, part of the group of arboreal archosaurs that will give rise to the pterosaurs (David Peters).  It already possesses the light build, powerful limbs, and arboreal proclivities that will eventually cumulate in the first flying vertebrates.

    Living, as it does, in swamps, C. avipes is able to pursue its prey running on its hind legs, up trees, and through the water.  It is an active, skittering creature, well-suited to its environment.

C. avipes's feet sport patagia, flaps of skin that web the toes and connect them to the hips.  While this beast uses its patagia for little more then display, the membranes are present, in a much grander state, on the hindquarters of Sharovipteryx , a reletive of C. avipes.

Thanks to David Peters and Ray Stanford for their help interpreting Cosesaurus as an animal, and to Peter Buchholz for helping me with the latin translation of the name.

Other sites containing pertinent information:

• Weird little Cosasaurus sketch

© Daniel Bensen 2002
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