Nycteroleter
Nycteroleter is an extinct genus of nycteroleterid parareptile known from the Middle Permian of European Russia.[1] Fossils were first found in the Mezen River, near to Arkhangelsk. Within the Nycteroleteridae, it is considered most closely related to Emeroleter. However, its legs were shorter than those of Emeroleter and its skull was flatter.[2] Nycteroleter was insectivorous, and may have been nocturnal. It was a small animal, less than a metre long.
| Nycteroleter Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
| Fossil of N. bashkyricus in Moscow Paleontological Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | †Parareptilia |
| Order: | †Procolophonomorpha |
| Family: | †Nycteroleteridae |
| Genus: | †Nycteroleter Efremov, 1938 |
| Type species | |
| †Nycteroleter ineptus Efremov, 1938 | |
Classification edit
Nycteroleter is classified as a primitive procolophonian, related to the Pareisauridae. It is not certain whether the nycteroleterids formed a monophyletic or polyphyletic group, as Rhipaeosaurus seems to be more similar to pareisaurids than to other nycteroleterids. Previously, it was uncertain whether nycteroleterids were parareptiles or reptile-like amphibians.[2]
References edit
- ^ Cisneros, J. C. (2008). "Phylogenetic relationships of procolophonid parareptiles with remarks on their geological record". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 6 (3): 345–366. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002350. S2CID 84468714.
- ^ a b "Palaeos Vertebrates Anapsida: Nycteroleteridae". palaeos.com. Retrieved 2018-02-16.