Icarosaurus (meaning "Icarus lizard") is a genus of reptile from the Late Triassic (Carnian age) Lower Lockatong Formation of New Jersey, dated to around 228 million years ago. It is closely related to lizards and the tuatara. Based on a partial skeleton missing part of the tail, some ribs, a hand, and parts of the legs, it was a small animal, about 10 centimeters (4 in) long from the skull to the hips. Like its relative Kuehneosaurus, it was able to glide short distances using 'wings' consisting of highly elongated ribs covered with skin, with the upper surface convex and the lower surface concave, thus creating a simple airfoil structure well-suited to gliding. This method of gliding is also seen in Coelurosauravus and the modern Draco, neither of which are closely related to Icarosaurus.

 The only known fossil skeleton which definitely belongs to Icarosaurus was found in 1960 in North Bergen, New Jersey by Alfred Siefker, a teenager at the time, who stumbled upon the specimen while exploring a quarry. Seifker brought the specimen to scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York for identification and preparation. It was described by paleontologist Edwin Harris Colbert in 1966, who named it Icarosaurus siefkeri in honor of Siefker.

 The kuehneosaurids were a group of small, lizard-like diapsids including Icarosaurus and Kuehneosaurus. They were distinguished from other diapsids by their 'wings', which were really sails of skin held up by bony struts similar to ribs. These sails would have served as gliding tools, but the Kuehneosaurids were incapable of powered flight. They were most likely insectivorous, judging from their pin-like teeth. The oldest known member is Pamelina.

 Rhabdopelix may have been a kuehneosaurid; however, the fossils were lost, and the characteristics described are not entirely consistent with the other family members.

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Tags: Вымершие рептилии, Триас, диапсиды, кюнеозавриды, лепидозавроморфы

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