Gorgonops ( lat. Gorgonops ) - a genus of predatory therapsids , a representative of the Gorgonops squad. The first of the gorgonops described, the type species Gorgonops torvus, was identified by R. Owen in 1876 on the basis of an incomplete skull from the Beaufort suite of South Africa . Later, several more species were described, mainly from the remains of skulls.
| † Gorgonops | ||||||||||||||
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 Gorgonops whaitsi head | ||||||||||||||
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| Gorgonops Owen , 1876 |
This is a medium-sized gorgonopsia, with a skull from 20 to 35 cm long. A feature of the genus is a flattened skull and wide zygomatic arches. Powerful incisors, saber-shaped fangs , the number of back teeth of the upper jaw are sharply reduced (in the type species, from one to four pairs).
Usually a gorgonops is depicted as a land predator, but a close genus zuhogorgon with similar proportions of the skull could be semi-aquatic. This lifestyle could lead and various species of the genus Gorgonops.
Views
The following types are recognized as valid:
- Gorgonops torvus (Owen, 1876) is a typical species, the skull is about 20 cm long. It comes from the Tropidostoma - Cistecephalus zones of the Late Permian of South Africa.
Gorgonops torvus head
- Gorgonops longifrons (Haughton, 1915 ) - from coeval deposits, skull length up to 35 cm. May be synonymous with type species.
- Gorgonops whaitsi (Broom, 1912 ) - larger than the type species, originally belonged to the genus Scymnognathus . Also comes from the zones of Tropidostoma - Cistecephalus . A full skeleton is known, an animal of a rather heavy physique with a long massive skull.
- Gorgonops dixeyi (Haughton, 1926 ) - from the layers of Chiwet in Nyasaland (now Malawi). Large view with a flattened skull. Often stands out in a special genus Chiwetasaurus . By age, probably corresponds to the zone of Cistecephalus .
- Gorgonops kaiseri (Broili & Schroeder, 1934 ) is a large species with a skull length of 35 cm. The skull is taller and narrower than other species. More ancient than other species of the genus - comes from the Pristerognathus zone. Previously stood out in a special genus Pachyrhinos .
- Gorgonops eupachygnathus (Watson, 1921 ). Described by an incomplete skull of small size, it may be a young specimen of a typical type.
Air Force
It should be noted that in the BBC series “ Walking with monsters. Life before the dinosaurs ”( 2005 ) large gorgonopsia is erroneously assigned to the genus Gorgonops . In addition, the action takes place somewhere in "Siberia" (from which gorgonopsies are not generally known), however, the genus Gorgonops is known only from South Africa .
Links
- http://www.paleofile.com/Demo/Mainpage/Taxalist/Theriodontia.htm
- Lieuwe D. Boonstra "On the south african gorgonopsian reptiles preserved in the American Museum of Natural History" (1935 )
- Eva Gebauer "Phylogeny and Evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a Special Reference to the Skull and Skeleton of GPIT / RE / 7113 ('Aelurognathus?' Parringtoni)" (inaccessible link) (German)