Permian Animals & the End-Permian Extinction

260Paleozoic

A single head spine, forked teeth and continuous dorsal fin defined this freshwater shark.

261Paleozoic

Its long skull and deep tail suggest a waterside animal that was still a capable walker.

262Paleozoic

Low vertebral ridges accompanied a deep skull and strongly differentiated teeth.

263Paleozoic

A light build, long limbs and small skull bosses combine primitive and therapsid features.

264Paleozoic

A huge skull combined thickened impact surfaces with long canines in a formidable predator.

265Paleozoic

A domed, massively thick skull crowned the barrel body of this giant herbivore.

355Paleozoic

A frog-like head and salamander-like tail combine traits near the origin of living amphibians.

361Paleozoic

Adults retained external gills, extending a juvenile condition through life.

367Paleozoic

A row of bony back plates reinforced this stocky terrestrial amphibian.

368Paleozoic

A serrated rear skull margin may have protected the neck or supported soft tissue.

371Paleozoic

This broad-headed aquatic predator was common in southern Late Permian waters.

376Paleozoic

A long snout, lateral-line grooves and weak limbs show permanent aquatic dependence.

422Paleozoic

Broad tongue-shaped leaves lacked the strong midrib of later glossopterids.

443Paleozoic

Paired backward horns widened the skull of this small diplocaulid.

479Paleozoic

A palm-like crown belonged not to a fern but to an extinct heterosporous seed-plant relative.

481Paleozoic

Shield-shaped reproductive discs record an innovation among drought-tolerant seed ferns.

490Paleozoic

External gills and a long body show a temnospondyl that remained aquatic throughout life.

491Paleozoic

A broad head, strong trunk and compressed tail belonged to a large freshwater predator.

493Paleozoic

Needle teeth and a flattened tail mark one of the earliest amniotes to return to water.

502Paleozoic

Narrow leaves repeatedly forked at their tips on an extinct seed-plant relative.

503Paleozoic

Needle-like leaves crowded the shoots of an early conifer-like tree.

509Paleozoic

Spotted wings and fine venation record Permian palaeodictyopteran diversity.

527Paleozoic

A short trunk, mobile neck and ear region approach the body plan of modern amphibian ancestors.

529Paleozoic

A broad flat head, strong trunk and compressed tail belonged to a large aquatic predator.