| Niaftasuchus | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Genus: | †Niaftasuchus Ivakhnenko, 1990 |
| Species: | †N. zekkeli |
| Binomial name | |
| †Niaftasuchus zekkeli Ivakhnenko, 1990 | |
Niaftasuchus is an extinctgenus oftherapsids. Its type and only named species isNiaftasuchus zekkeli.
Niaftasuchus had distinctive dentition. It has been interpreted as one of the earliest known herbivorous therapsids. It lived during theGuadalupian epoch of thePermian in what is nowRussia, and inhabited an environment alongside some of the last non-therapsid synapsids, such as the caseasaurEnnatosaurus and the varanopidMesenosaurus.
Niaftasuchus is one of several enigmatic early therapsids from Russia that may be based on juvenile material. Its phylogenetic affinities are controversial; it has been classified as a biarmosuchian, dinocephalian, or anomodont, and it has also been suggested to belong to a lineage of its own.
Niaftasuchus has a distinctive dentition composed of large, procumbent, leaf-shaped teeth. There are three pairs of incisors, but the canines are not particularly distinct from the other maxillary teeth. There are a few palatal teeth. Like biarmosuchians,Niaftasuchus has exceptionally large eye sockets, though this may be a juvenile character. The skull is low and broad.
The known specimens ofNiaftasuchus are very small; the holotype skull is only 9 centimetres (3.5 in) long.[1] It has been interpreted as being based on probable juvenile material.[2]
The holotype specimen ofNiaftasuchus zekkeli, an incomplete skull without the mandible, was collected near thePyoza river inArkhangelsk Oblast,Russia, near Nyafta (Russian:Няфта). It was named in 1990 by M. F. Ivakhnenko, with the name referring to the place where it was found and honoring the geologist I. D. Zekkel. Ivakhnenko initially interpreted it as atapinocephalian, but subsequently proposed a monotypic order, Niaftasuchida, for it. In 2000, Battail and Surkov argued it was a biarmosuchian. In 2001, Ivakhnenko suggested it was an anomodont, but in 2003 returned to regarding it as a dinocephalian on the basis of new material.[3]
The classification ofNiaftasuchus is considered problematic.[2] It is assigned to a family of its own, Niaftasuchidae. Ivakhnenko, who first describedNiaftasuchus, regards it as a basaldinocephalian, whereas Battail and Surkov classifiedNiaftasuchus inBiarmosuchia. It is also possible that it belongs to neither lineage, and forms a distinctive therapsid group of its own.[4][5]
There is only one named species,Niaftasuchus zekkeli, but a specimen that may represent a second species is known.[6] It differs from the type species in having a straight tooth row without enlarged maxillary teeth.
Niaftasuchus is interpreted as an herbivore, with its teeth adapted primarily for tearing off soft plant parts. Based on possible coprolites found in the mouth of a juvenile specimen, Ivakhnenko suggested that juvenileNiaftasuchus would ingest coprolites to develop theirgut microbiota, as in many modern herbivores.[7]
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