Wednesday 26 June 2013

Knobbly reptile roamed vast ancient desert

A bizarre reptile with knobbly growths on its head roamed a vast, isolated desert about 260 million years ago, researchers say.

New fossils from northern Niger in Africa have been described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The distinctive creature belongs to a new genus of pareiasaur - plant-eating creatures that flourished during the Permian period.

The cow-sized specimen has been named Bunostegos, which means "knobby roof".

During Permian times, the Earth was dominated by a single supercontinent called Pangaea.

Animal and plant life dispersed broadly across the land, as documented by identical fossil species found on multiple modern continents.

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