Prehistoric Predators: The Biggest Carnivores of the Prehistoric World
A lone Dimetrodon is silhouetted against the morning sky Paleontologists used to think that the protomammal turned its big sail toward the sun to help it warm up each morning But newer evidence suggests that those long spines and the skin between them evolved as a display structure Such a big flashy ornament would have helped these predators figure out who was who as they walked across the Permian landscape and Dimetrodon may have even used the sails as biological billboards to show off during the mating season
Dimetrodon limbatus PRONUNCIATION DY-met-RO-don SIZE Up to 15 feet long AGE 295 272 million years ago PHYSICAL PROFILE A squat four legged carnivore that sported a huge thin sail along its back SCIENCE BITE Even though Dimetrodon was a protomammal relative of ours they still reproduced by laying eggs And baby Dimetrodon had tiny sails on their backs like their parents
Dinogorgon rubidgei PRONUNCIATION DY-no-GORE-gon SIZE About 6 feet long AGE 252 million years ago PHYSICAL PROFILE A hunter that ran on all fours and dispatched prey with long pointed canine teeth SCIENCE BITE Dinogorgon was one of the last great predatory protomammals living right before the world’s worst mass extinction removed them from dominance
Of all the Permian protomammals the gorgonopsids were among the fiercest predators Some of the largest such as these dueling Dinogorgon grew to the size of a black bear and they dispatched prey with their long stabbing saber teeth More than that the gorgonopsids were faster than earlier Permian carnivores While predators like Dimetrodon had legs splayed out to their sides like lizards Dinogorgon and its deadly kin had legs held more upright toward the middle of the body and this made them quicker more efficient pursuit predators
