Niaftasuchus

Ne-af-tah-soo-kus.
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Benjamin Gutierrez

Vertebrate Paleontologist

Benjamin Gutierrez is a leading expert on dinosaurs, particularly the mighty theropods. His fieldwork in South America has uncovered new species and provided insights into dinosaur social structures.

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Name

Niaftasuchus ‭(‬Niafta crocodile‭)‬.

Phonetic

Ne-af-tah-soo-kus.

Named By

M.‭ ‬F.‭ ‬Ivakhnenko‭ ‬-‭ ‬1990.

Classification

Chordata,‭ ‬Synapsida,‭ ‬Therapsida,‭ ‬Biarmosuchian,‭ ‬Niaftasuchidae.

Diet

Carnivore.

Species

N.‭ ‬zekkeli‭

Size

Skull reconstructed to be about nine centimetres long.‭

Known locations

Russia,‭ ‬Arkhangelsk Oblast.

Time Period

Wordian of the Permian.

Fossil representation

Partial skull.

In Depth

       Niaftasuchus is a genus of biarmosuchian therapsid that lived in Russia during‭ ‬the mid/late Permian.‭ ‬At the time of writing Niaftasuchus is only known from a partial skull,‭ ‬but as a biarmosuchian,‭ ‬Niaftasuchus would be expected to have been a predator.‭ ‬Given the small size‭ ‬of the skull,‭ ‬Niaftasuchus would have probably been a predator of smaller animals.

Further Reading

-‭ ‬The late Paleozoic faunal assemblage of tetrapods from deposits of the Mezen‭ ‬River Basin.‭ ‬-‭ ‬Paleontological Journal‭ ‬24:76‭–‬84.‭ ‬-‭ ‬M.‭ ‬F.‭ ‬Ivakhnenko‭ ‬-‭ ‬1990.

SPECIES SPOTLIGHT