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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