Nochnitsa

Nochnitsa Temporal range: Permian, 265–252 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Holotype block, containing skull and partial skeleton
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Synapsida
Clade:	Therapsida
Clade:	†Gorgonopsia
Genus:	†Nochnitsa Kammerer and Masyutin, 2018
Type species
† Nochnitsa geminidens Kammerer and Masyutin, 2018

Nochnitsa is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids who lived during an uncertain stage of the Permian in what is now European Russia. Only one species is known, N. geminidens, described in 2018 from a single specimen including a complete skull and some postcranial remains, discovered in the red beds of Kotelnich, Kirov Oblast. The genus is named in reference to Nocnitsa, a nocturnal creature from Slavic mythology. This name is intended as a parallel to the Gorgons, which are named after many genera among gorgonopsians, as well as for the nocturnal behavior inferred for the animal. The only known specimen of Nochnitsa is one of the smallest gorgonopsians identified to date, with a skull measuring close to 8 cm (3.1 in) in length. The rare postcranial elements indicate that the animal's skeleton should be particularly slender.

Phylogenetic analyzes published since its official description consider it as the most basal gorgonopsian known, due to several anatomical characteristics wo are not present in more or less derived genera. The Vanyushonki Member, the exact site from which Nochnitsa was discovered, would have been a moist, well-vegetated landscape, which would have been periodically flooded. The site contains numerous taxa of contemporary tetrapods, including other various therapsids. The presence of large therocephalians and the smaller size of Nochnitsa and its close relative Viatkogorgon indicate that the latter occupied comparatively small predatory roles.