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Artist's reconstruction · realistic art coming in a later version

Gorgonops

GOR-guh-nops

“Gorgon Face”

Before Dinosaurs
When
Late Permian
Where
South Africa
Size
Up to 10 ft long
Diet
Meat

6 Facts

1–6
  1. Gorgonops had long saber-like fangs, millions of years before saber-toothed cats existed.
  2. Its name means “Gorgon Face,” after a fearsome monster from Greek myth.
  3. Like Dimetrodon, it was a mammal relative, not a dinosaur or true reptile.
  4. It was a top predator in the final stretch before the great Permian extinction.
  5. It walked with its legs more underneath its body than sprawled out — a step toward how mammals move.
  6. Nearly everything in its world, including Gorgonops, died out in Earth’s largest extinction event.