Gorgonopsid
The Gorgonopsids [1] were Therapsids, a group of tetrapods which eventually gave rise to the mammals. Gorgonopsids had fur and layed eggs.
| Gorgonopsia Temporal range: Middle to Late Permian
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| Gorgonops | |
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| Suborder: | †Gorgonopsia Seeley, 1895
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| Family: | †Gorgonopsidae Lydekker, 1890
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Gorgonopsinae | |
Gorgonopsids were a successful group which lived during the Permian period, about 260 million years ago. They became extinct in the Permian–Triassic extinction event.
They were the major predators of their day. They had large, powerful, square-shaped jaws with huge, sabre-like canine and interlaced, socket-like teeth. Many fossils have been found in South Africa.
The famous of all, Inostrancevia, was the size of a large bear with a 45 cm long skull, and 12-cm long sabre-like teeth. This predator could easily take down a Scutosaurus, or small animals such as Dvinosaurus.
The Gorgonopsidae are divided into three sub-families:
- Rubidginae, which had large, broad skulls,
- Gorgonopsinae, which included most of the gorgonopsid genera.
- Inostranceviinae
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