Nyctiphruretus

Name: Nyctiphruretus ‭(‬Guardian of the night‭)‬.
Phonetic: Nik-te-fu-ru-re-tus.
Named By: I.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Efremov‭ ‬-‭ ‬1938.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Procolophonomorpha,‭ ‬Nyctiphruretia,‭ ‬Nyctiphruretidae.
Species: N.‭ ‬acudens‭ (‬type‭)‬,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬optabilis.
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: About‭ ‬40‭ ‬centimetres long,‭ ‬depending upon the individual.
Known locations: Russia.
Time period: Wordian of the Permian.
Fossil representation: Literally dozens of individuals representing various growth stages.

       Nyctiphruretus is a contender for one of the coolest names of any prehistoric animal since the name translates to English as‭ ‘‬guardian of the night‭’‬.‭ ‬Nyctiphruretus was an herbivorous procolophonomorph,‭ ‬that seems to have had a preference for plants that were either aquatic,‭ ‬or growing in wetlands.‭ ‬This is because all of the known remains of Nyctiphruretus have come from sediments associated with aquatic environments.‭ ‬Fossils of nearly a hundred specimens of Nyctiphruretus have so far been recovered,‭ ‬and all but one of these are referable to the type species,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬acudens.‭ ‬The second species named in‭ ‬2002,‭ ‬N.‭ ‬optabilis,‭ ‬was named upon the basis of a single jaw.

Further reading
-‭ ‬Some New Permian Reptiles of the USSR.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Comptes Rendus‭ (‬Doklady‭) ‬de l'Acad�mie des Sciences de l'URSS‭ ‬19‭(‬9‭)‬:771-776‭ ‬-‭ ‬I.‭ ‬A.‭ ‬Efremov‭ ‬-‭ ‬1938.
-‭ ‬New data on procolophons from the Permian of Eastern Europe.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Paleontological Journal‭ ‬36:‭ ‬525‭–‬530.‭ ‬-‭ ‬V.‭ ‬V.‭ ‬bulanov‭ ‬-‭ ‬2002.
-‭ ‬The phylogenetic position of Nyctiphruretus acudens,‭ ‬a parareptile from the Permian of Russia.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Journal of Iberian Geology‭ ‬36‭ (‬2‭)‬:‭ ‬123‭–‬143.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Laura K.‭ ‬S�il�‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.



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