Explore this animal in Size of Extinct Animals ↗
219 / Paleozoic
Gorgonops
Gorgonops torvus
Long upper canines and a wide gape made it an early experiment in saber-toothed predation.
View original image · 1536 × 1024- Time range
- About 260–254 million years ago
- Final stage
- Late Permian
- Geographic range
- River-valley scrub · Present-day South Africa
01 / DEFINITION & ECOLOGY
What was Gorgonops?
Gorgonops (Gorgonops torvus) was an extinct organism known from About 260–254 million years ago, with a range in River-valley scrub · Present-day South Africa.
Life and ecology
Gorgonops was a therapsid predator with limbs between sprawling and upright. It likely ambushed dicynodonts and drove its canines with strong neck muscles.
02 / DISAPPEARANCE
Why did Gorgonops disappear?
Gorgonopsians disappeared by the end-Permian mass extinction, and other therapsids and archosaurs later occupied their roles; the record of Gorgonops does not show exactly when or why it vanished.
03 / EVIDENCE
How do scientists know about Gorgonops?
Complete skulls, canines and associated skeletons reveal jaw muscles and gait; skin and behavior remain uncertain.
04 / SOURCES & FURTHER READING
Check the source record
Use the scientific name to compare taxonomy, occurrence records and the fossil record. Database coverage and classifications may differ.
05 / REVISION HISTORY
How has this record changed?
- Rewrote an extinction cause that presented environmental or faunal turnover as established; it is now given as context the record does not prove.
- Verified authoritative entity sources and added three responsive reconstruction sizes.
- Initial bilingual species record published.
06 / CORRECTIONS & ADDITIONS