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Gorgonops

Gorgonops
Fossil range: Late Permian
Scientific classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Synapsida

Order

Therapsida

Suborder

Gorgonopsia

Family

Gorgonopsidae

Genus

Gorgonops

Species

G. torvus
G. whaitsi
G. longifrons
G. dixeyi
G. kaiseri
G. eupachygnathus


Gorgonops was the largest, and fiercest predator of the Late Permian period. It preyed upon what ever it came across, mostly large herbivores such as Scutosaurus. It was perfectly suited to its desert environment, having evolved from the early predators of the Permian like Dimetrodon. When the great Permo-Triassic extinction evetn came this predator was one of the first to die out. Being so large it needed a substantial amount of food, so when prey disappeared they turned on each other.

There are six distinct species of Gorgonops, all have the main difference in the structure of their heads. The size of their 'sabre teeth' positioning of the jaw bone in relation to the rest of the skull and obviously their size, one being the size of a car, and the other the size of a common dog.

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