Niktifruret ( lat. Nyctiphruretus , from other Greek. νυκτιφρούρητος - carrying night watch) is a genus of extinct primitive reptiles of the Upper Permian era . Belongs to a subclass of anapsids , possibly to the order of prokolophonomorphs . First described by I. A. Efremov in 1938 from the "Middle Perm" deposits of the Mezen River.
| † Niktifruret |
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| Scientific classification |
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| No rank : | Bilateral symmetrical |
| Family: | † Nyctiphruretidae |
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| International scientific name |
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Nyctiphruretus Efremov, 1938 |
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Content
A small animal, about 30-40 cm long, looks like a lizard . The eye sockets are huge (the orbit is probably widened back to attach the jaw muscles), a large opening of the parietal eye . Perhaps there was a salt gland near the nostrils. Efremov considered Niktifruret a nocturnal animal (hence the name). The skull roof is covered with small osteoderms - this suggests the presence of scales.
It is possible that niktifruret was herbivorous and ate algae (the structure of his teeth is similar to that of a nikteroleter ). On the other hand, he could eat insects. It is characteristic of the Mezensky subcomplex of the “middle” Permian Urals, up to 75% of the entire fauna. Inhabited in the Kalamite thickets along the shores of salt ponds, in its way of life it could resemble the iguanas-amblyrinchos. Interestingly, the juvenile Niktifrurette was fed by the large parareptile Macroleter .
According to the Paleobiology Database website, as of November 2017, 2 extinct species are included in the genus [1] :
- Nyctiphruretus acudens Efremov, 1938 typus
- Nyctiphruretus optabilis Bulanov, 2002
