Nigerpeton (Niger, for the country, and herpeton (Greek), meaning crawler)[1] is an extinct genus of crocodile-like temnospondyls from the late Permian (Changhsingian) period.

Nigerpeton is a member of the Cochleosauridae family, a group of edopoid temnospondyl amphibians known from the late Carboniferous (Pennsylvanian) and early Permian (Cisuralian).

In the late 1960s, French paleontologists set out on three short expeditions to this formation but only described a single taxon, the captorhinid reptile Moradisaurus grandis.

In their 1982 description of the Moradisaurus grandis skull, Ricqlès and Taquet reported finding numerous temnospondyl remains during their three expeditions in the 1960s.

[1][2][10][11][12][13] These specimens were collected from a layer of conglomerate in the Moradi Formation, approximately 20 km west of Arlit in north-central Niger.

Previously, it was believed that edopoids lived only during the late Carboniferous and early Permian periods, and were restricted to a narrow latitudinal band in Europe and America straddling the paleo-equator.

The intercentrum has a subtriangular profile measuring 21 mm in ventral length and shows a feasible attachment surface for the pluerocentrum on its right medial side.

Relative to Nigerpeton's small sized ribs and slight curvature this suggests the vertebrae be anteriorly located alongside the vertebral column.

Even though complete Nigerpeton teeth are not available, the visible tooth row shows the dentation was usually rounded in cross-section like in non-stereospondyl temnospondyls.

[1][2] Edops Procochleosaurus Adamanterpeton Cochleosaurus florensis Cochleosaurus bohemicus Nigerpeton Chenoprosopus milleri Chenoprosopus lewisi All Nigerpeton specimens were retrieved from the upper one-third of the Moradi Formation located in Arlit, Niger, a late Permian formation approximately 259 to 252 Ma.