''Nanoparia'' is an

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

pareiasaur Pareiasaurs (meaning "cheek lizards") are an extinct clade of large, herbivorous parareptiles. Members of the group were armoured with osteoderms which covered large areas of the body. They first appeared in southern Pangea during the Middle Per ...

that lived in the

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and System (stratigraphy), stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years, from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.902 Mya. It is the s ...

Description

It was about 60 cm (23.6 in) in length, and weighed around 8 to 10 kilograms (17.6-22 lbs).

Classification

This is an unusual small, spiny specialised form. The skull is very similar to that of

Pareiasaurus ''Pareiasaurus'' (from , "cheek" and , "lizard") is an extinct genus of Pareiasauromorpha, pareiasauromorph reptile from the Permian period. It was a typical member of its family (biology), family, the pareiasaurids, which take their name from th ...

and Romer considered it a synonym of the latter. Orlov however (in Osnovy Paleontology, the monumental multi-volume Russian textbook of Paleontology) placed it in the Elginiinae. Kuhn (1969) however argues that while resembling

Elginia ''Elginia'' is an extinct genus of pareiasaurid known from the Late Permian of Scotland and China. It was named for the area around Elgin, Moray, Elgin in Scotland, which has yielded many fossils referred to as the Elgin Reptiles. Discovery ...

in the ossifications at the rear of the skull, it differs completely in proportions and would not seem to be related. Lee (1997) considers it a basal member of the dwarf pareiasaurs. ''Nanoparia'' is believed to be among the

genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial s ...

most closely related to

turtles Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked turtle ...

References

External links

Elginiidae and Pumiliopareiasauria
at Palaeos Pareiasauria Lopingian reptiles of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1936 Prehistoric reptile genera Changhsingian life {{permian-reptile-stub