The knobbly growths on Bunostegos' skull are the most pronounced ever seen in this group of reptiles
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.
But the new research by an international team supports the idea that there was an isolated desert in the middle of Pangaea with distinctive animals.
Most pareiasaurs had bony knobs on their skulls, but Bunostegos sported the largest, most bulbous ones ever seen in this group, which were common in the Middle and Late Permian, about 266-252 million years ago.
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