Gorgonopsians

Gorgonopsians are an extinct group of therapsids, a lineage of synapsids that includes mammals and their prehistoric relatives. They lived during the Late Permian period, roughly 260 to 254 million years ago, before the Permian-Triassic mass extinction.

Physically, gorgonopsians varied in size but shared a distinctive skull plan: elongated snouts and a high, arched skull. Their most recognizable feature was the pair of large saber-like canines in the upper jaw. They had differentiated teeth and strong jaw muscles, enabling a powerful bite. Limbs were typically sprawling or semi-erect, consistent with an ambush-predator lifestyle.

Ecology and behavior suggest that gorgonopsians were among the top carnivores of their ecosystems, preying on smaller therapsids and other contemporaries. Jaw mechanics and tooth wear patterns imply short bursts of high bite force rather than long chases.

Fossil evidence is strongest in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, where most gorgonopsian genera have been described. Remains have also been found in parts of Eurasia, indicating a wider Permian distribution. Taxonomically, they are placed in the clade Gorgonopsia within Therapsida, with the family Gorgonopsidae comprising several genera and species.

Gorgonopsians did not survive the end-Permian mass extinction. Their fossils illuminate the diversity of early mammal-line synapsids and illustrate the range of predatory adaptations that evolved before the rise of dinosaurs.