Gorgonops
Encyclopedia
Gorgonops is an extinct genus
of therapsid which lived about 255-250 million years ago, during the latest part of the Permian
Period. It was a typical representative of the suborder Gorgonopsia
, the dominant predators of their day, which in the largest forms grew to over four metres long. Gorgonops possessed highly developed, 12-cm long "sabre" canine teeth, similar to those found in sabre-toothed cats
in the Cenozoic. Arguments have even been made for therapsids of its time being endothermic, though no strong evidence exists either way. All of the gorgonopsids are believed to have died out in the Permian extinction.
Gorgonops itself was a medium to large-sized representative of the group, with a skull length of twenty to thirty-five centimetres, depending on the species. It ranged from 2 to 2.5 metres long from nose to tail. Gorgonops derived superior speed from long legs held beneath its body.
The holotype
of the type species
, Gorgonops torvus, was in 1876 one of the first therapsids described, by Richard Owen
, who also coined the name "Dinosauria" on the basis of the first known dinosaur
fossil
s. It was also used as the type for which Richard Lydekker
described the family in 1890. Five years later, in 1895, Harry Govier Seeley used this genus to establish the group as a whole. In later years, a large number of further species
and genera
were designated, but some of these turned out to be synonyms.
The following list of species follows the list provided Sigogneau-Russell, 1989. The type species is listed first, then others in alphabetical order.
Since the publication of the work cited above, the dating of the Karoo
Basin (Beaufort Group
) has been revised. According to Smith and Keyser 1995, Gorgonops is known from the Tropidostoma
and most of the Cistecephalus
Assemblage Zones, and this has been taken into account when compiling the following list.
Gorgonops torvus (Owen, 1876)
The type species. The holotype is an incomplete and flattened skull found at Mildenhalls, Fort Beaufort
, South Africa. A number of other specimens have been found since, all from the Tropidostoma and/or Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone(s). This was a medium-sized therapsid, with a skull about twenty cm in length. It is distinguished from other species by a longer snout, and other details of the bones of the skull. Originally considered rather simple, it is actually (according to Sigogneau-Russell) a rather specialised member of the group.
Gorgonops longifrons (Haughton 1915) A large specimen known from an incomplete and flattened skull about thirty-five cm long. Orbit larger and snout longer than G. whaitsi, from which it may have descended. Beaufort West
, Tropidostoma/Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone.
Synonyms: Gorgonognathus longifrons Haughton 1915
Gorgonops whaitsi (Broom, 1912)
Larger than G. torvus, with the rear of the skull wider, and other details of proportion. Originally the type species of Scymnognathus. Despite being known from a large number of specimens from the Karoo
Basin, Beaufort West (Tropidostoma/Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone), the species remains poorly known. Watson and Romer placed Gorgonops and Scymnognathus in two different families, while Sigogneau-Russell 1989 placed the two species in the same genus, and considers G. whaitsi a more primitive (less derived) form.
Synonyms: Scymnognathus whaitsi Broom, 1912
The following are more problematic species (either synonyms or uncertain placement):
Gorgonops? dixeyi (Haughton, 1926)
A large, incomplete and flattened skull, from Chiweta Beds, Nyassaland. Placement uncertain. Probably Low Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone equivalent (= middle of the Wuchiapingian
Stage). See Jacobs et al. 2005 for more on this species discussion on its age.
Synonyms: Chiwetasaurus dixeyi Haughton, 1926
Gorgonops? kaiseri (Broili & Schroeder, 1934). A large (estimated total length about 35 cm long), incomplete skull, with a high snout and narrower in the rear than other species, from the "High Tapinocephalus zone" (i.e. earlier than the other species, most probably Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone
)
Synonyms: Pachyrhinos kaiseri Broili & Schroeder, 1934
Gorgonops? eupachygnathus (Watson, 1921)
A flattened, incomplete, medium-sized skull, probably a juvenile of either G. torvus or G. whaitsi
Synonyms: Scymnosuchus whaitsi Watson, 1921, Scymnognathus whaitsi (Watson, 1921), Leptotrachelus eupachygnathus WATSON, 1921, Leptotracheliscops eupachygnathus (Watson, 1921)
It was featured in Walking with Monsters
as the top predator of the Permian
, preying on Scutosaurus
. In the series, it is simply referred to as "gorgonopsid," though, in the companion book, it is identified as "Gorgonops." It was highly unlikely that Gorgonops preyed on Scutosaurus, as the former lived in what is now South Africa
, and the latter lived in what is now the Perm
region of Russia
. It was possible, however, that Gorgonops' European relatives, Inostrancevia
and Sauroctonus
, preyed on Scutosaurus.
It was also featured in the ITV
sci-fi program Primeval
, where one came through a time anomaly and stalked a local boy. Later another Gorgonops had fought and successfully killed a bat
-like predator from the future
.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of therapsid which lived about 255-250 million years ago, during the latest part of the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
Period. It was a typical representative of the suborder Gorgonopsia
Gorgonopsia
Gorgonopsia is a suborder of therapsid synapsids. Their name is a reference to the Gorgons of Greek mythology. Like other therapsids, gorgonopsians were at one time called "mammal-like reptiles"...
, the dominant predators of their day, which in the largest forms grew to over four metres long. Gorgonops possessed highly developed, 12-cm long "sabre" canine teeth, similar to those found in sabre-toothed cats
Nimravidae
The Nimravidae, sometimes known as false saber-toothed cats, are an extinct family of mammalian carnivores belonging to the suborder Feliformia and endemic to North America, Europe, and Asia living from the Eocene through the Miocene epochs , existing for approximately .-Morphology:Although some...
in the Cenozoic. Arguments have even been made for therapsids of its time being endothermic, though no strong evidence exists either way. All of the gorgonopsids are believed to have died out in the Permian extinction.
Gorgonops itself was a medium to large-sized representative of the group, with a skull length of twenty to thirty-five centimetres, depending on the species. It ranged from 2 to 2.5 metres long from nose to tail. Gorgonops derived superior speed from long legs held beneath its body.
The holotype
Holotype
A holotype is a single physical example of an organism, known to have been used when the species was formally described. It is either the single such physical example or one of several such, but explicitly designated as the holotype...
of the type species
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
, Gorgonops torvus, was in 1876 one of the first therapsids described, by Richard Owen
Richard Owen
Sir Richard Owen, FRS KCB was an English biologist, comparative anatomist and palaeontologist.Owen is probably best remembered today for coining the word Dinosauria and for his outspoken opposition to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...
, who also coined the name "Dinosauria" on the basis of the first known dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s. It was also used as the type for which Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker
Richard Lydekker was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history.-Biography:...
described the family in 1890. Five years later, in 1895, Harry Govier Seeley used this genus to establish the group as a whole. In later years, a large number of further species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
and genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
were designated, but some of these turned out to be synonyms.
Species
Since the publication of the work cited above, the dating of the Karoo
Karoo
The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
Basin (Beaufort Group
Beaufort Group
The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup of geological strata in Southern Africa. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and consists essentially of sandstones and shales, deposited in the Karoo Basin from the Middle Permian to the early part of the...
) has been revised. According to Smith and Keyser 1995, Gorgonops is known from the Tropidostoma
Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone
The Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone is a geological stratum and a faunal zone of the Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo. The name refers to Tropidostoma, a genus of dicynodont mammal-like reptile, whose fossils have been found in that structure....
and most of the Cistecephalus
Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone
The Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone is a geological stratum and a faunal zone of the Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo. The name refers to Cistecephalus, a genus of small burrowing, mole-like reptile, whose fossils have been found in that structure....
Assemblage Zones, and this has been taken into account when compiling the following list.
Gorgonops torvus (Owen, 1876)
The type species. The holotype is an incomplete and flattened skull found at Mildenhalls, Fort Beaufort
Fort Beaufort
Fort Beaufort is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and has a population of 78,300. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883. The town lies at the confluence of the Kat and Brak rivers between the Keiskamma and Great Fish rivers...
, South Africa. A number of other specimens have been found since, all from the Tropidostoma and/or Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone(s). This was a medium-sized therapsid, with a skull about twenty cm in length. It is distinguished from other species by a longer snout, and other details of the bones of the skull. Originally considered rather simple, it is actually (according to Sigogneau-Russell) a rather specialised member of the group.
Gorgonops longifrons (Haughton 1915) A large specimen known from an incomplete and flattened skull about thirty-five cm long. Orbit larger and snout longer than G. whaitsi, from which it may have descended. Beaufort West
Beaufort West
Beaufort West is a town in the Western Cape province in South Africa. It is the largest town in the arid Great Karoo region, and forms part of the Beaufort West Local Municipality, with 37 000 inhabitants in 2001....
, Tropidostoma/Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone.
Synonyms: Gorgonognathus longifrons Haughton 1915
Larger than G. torvus, with the rear of the skull wider, and other details of proportion. Originally the type species of Scymnognathus. Despite being known from a large number of specimens from the Karoo
Karoo
The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
Basin, Beaufort West (Tropidostoma/Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone), the species remains poorly known. Watson and Romer placed Gorgonops and Scymnognathus in two different families, while Sigogneau-Russell 1989 placed the two species in the same genus, and considers G. whaitsi a more primitive (less derived) form.
Synonyms: Scymnognathus whaitsi Broom, 1912
The following are more problematic species (either synonyms or uncertain placement):
Gorgonops? dixeyi (Haughton, 1926)
A large, incomplete and flattened skull, from Chiweta Beds, Nyassaland. Placement uncertain. Probably Low Cistecephalus Assemblage Zone equivalent (= middle of the Wuchiapingian
Wuchiapingian
In the geologic timescale, the Wuchiapingian or Wujiapingian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the lower or earlier of two subdivisions of the Lopingian epoch or series. The Wuchiapingian spans the time between 260.4 ± 0.7 and 253.8 ± 0.7 million years ago...
Stage). See Jacobs et al. 2005 for more on this species discussion on its age.
Synonyms: Chiwetasaurus dixeyi Haughton, 1926
Gorgonops? kaiseri (Broili & Schroeder, 1934). A large (estimated total length about 35 cm long), incomplete skull, with a high snout and narrower in the rear than other species, from the "High Tapinocephalus zone" (i.e. earlier than the other species, most probably Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone
Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone
The Pristerognathus Assemblage Zone is a geological stratum and a faunal zone of the Beaufort Group, of the South African Karoo. The name refers to Pristerognathus, a genus of Therocephalian mammal-like reptile, whose fossils have been found in that structure....
)
Synonyms: Pachyrhinos kaiseri Broili & Schroeder, 1934
Gorgonops? eupachygnathus (Watson, 1921)
A flattened, incomplete, medium-sized skull, probably a juvenile of either G. torvus or G. whaitsi
Synonyms: Scymnosuchus whaitsi Watson, 1921, Scymnognathus whaitsi (Watson, 1921), Leptotrachelus eupachygnathus WATSON, 1921, Leptotracheliscops eupachygnathus (Watson, 1921)
In popular culture
Walking with Monsters
Walking with Monsters is a three-part British documentary film series about life in the Paleozoic, bringing to life extinct arthropods, fish, amphibians, synapsids, and reptiles...
as the top predator of the Permian
Permian
The PermianThe term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named his "Permian...
, preying on Scutosaurus
Scutosaurus
Scutosaurus was a genus of armor-covered pareiasaur that lived around 252-248 million years ago in Russia, in the later Permian period. Its genus name refers to large plates of armor scattered across its body...
. In the series, it is simply referred to as "gorgonopsid," though, in the companion book, it is identified as "Gorgonops." It was highly unlikely that Gorgonops preyed on Scutosaurus, as the former lived in what is now South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, and the latter lived in what is now the Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
region of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It was possible, however, that Gorgonops
Inostrancevia
Inostrancevia is a genus of gorgonopsid therapsid found in Sokolki, on the Smaller Northern Dvina River near Kotlas in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. The animal lived 251 million years ago during the Late Permian. The species I...
and Sauroctonus
Sauroctonus
Sauroctonus was a large gorgonopsid that lived in the Late Permian epoch before the Permian-Triassic extinction event that wiped out many life forms on Earth...
, preyed on Scutosaurus.
It was also featured in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
sci-fi program Primeval
Primeval
Primeval or primæval may refer to:* Primeval, a British science fiction television series.* Primeval , a 2007 film* Primeval , a score of music from the BBC TV series Doctor Who...
, where one came through a time anomaly and stalked a local boy. Later another Gorgonops had fought and successfully killed a bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
-like predator from the future
Future
The future is the indefinite time period after the present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the nature of the reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently exists and will exist is temporary and will come...
.