Beneath the soil of Mallorca, a treasure from the Permian era has emerged. The remains of the oldest gorgonopsian ever discovered reveal the secrets of a formidable predator, at the crossroads of reptiles and mammals.
270 million years in the past, Mallorca was not an island, but an equatorial part of the supercontinent Pangea. This territorycomposed of floodplains, offered a environment conducive to diverse wildlife. Among them, the gorgonopsians, these sabre-toothed creatures, reigned supreme.
These animals, neither truly mammals nor truly reptiles, presented a unique anatomy. Their legs, positioned under the body rather than on the sides as in reptiles, gave them more efficient locomotion for hunting. The Mallorcan fossil, including a skull and an almost complete leg, made it possible to study these adaptations in detail. Gorgonopsians possessed hybrid characteristics. Although they laid eggs like reptiles, they were warm-blooded, making them similar to mammals. Their body, about a meter long, resembled that of a dog without ears or fur, but with saber teeth.
This discovery is exceptional in several respects. Until now, these predators were best known for fossils found in Russia and South Africa. Finding a specimen at such a low latitude, in the south of present-day Europe, broadens knowledge of their geographical distribution.
Excavations at Banyalbufar, carried out by Catalan and Balearic teams, also revealed that this individual is the oldest of the gorgonopsian group. Analyzes estimated its age between 270 and 280 million years, making it the oldest specimen ever identified.
b) Pterygoid: lateral pterygoid flange (lpf), medial palatine ramus (mprp), posterior quadrate ramus (pqrp)
c) Basicranes: basioccipital (bo), basal tubercle (bt), prootic (pro), paroccipital process (pop)
de) Teeth: incisor alveoli (ina), canine alveoli (ca), postcanine alveoli (pca)
f1-3) Left mandible:
g) Cervical vertebra?: prezygapophysis (azg), postzygapophysis (pzg), neural spine (ns)
hi) Caudal vertebrae: fused caudal ribs (fcr), transverse process (tp)
j) Right dorsal rib
km) Hind limbs: left femur (k), left fibula (l), left tibia (m), fibular notch (fn), greater trochanter (gt)
no) Left tarsus: left talus (n), left calcaneus (o)
p) Handles
q) Right metatarsal and phalanges:
– First metatarsal (q, bottom), first phalanx of the right I finger (q, top)
– Penultimate phalanx (r)
– Left distal tarsus (s, bottom), left metatarsal of finger III (s, top)
– First (t, bottom) and second (t, top) phalanges of the right IV finger
u) Fourth left tarsus
v) First phalanx of the right V finger
w) Right fifth metatarsal
Image Wikimedia
During the Permian, gorgonopsians shared their habitat with herbivorous reptiles, such as captorhinids. The latter, often smaller, represented ideal prey for these fast and well-armed superpredators. The diversity of fossils found in the Balearic Islands testifies to a paleontological richness that is often underestimated.
Apart from the Permian, the Balearic fossil records cover other eras, such as the Pleistocene, with ancestors of hippos and even prehistoric mosquitoes. However, such an ancient discovery is rare, paving the way for research into the evolution of regional ecosystems.
The Mallorcan fossil also enriches the understanding of the origins of mammals. Descendants of the synapsid lineage, mammals owe part of their evolutionary success to creatures like the gorgonopsian. A memory which, despite millions of years, remains engraved in stone.
What is a gorgonopsian?
Gorgonopsians were predators that lived around 270 to 280 million years ago, during the Early Permian. They are considered distant ancestors of modern mammals, belonging to the synapsid lineage, an evolutionary group distinct from reptiles. Although they resemble reptiles, their internal characteristics and their physiology were closer to those of mammals.
This group of animals is particularly known for their saber teeth, a formidable asset for capturing prey. They had a body that approximated that of a large dog with no fur or visible ears. They varied in size, but most were around a meter long. Despite their reptilian appearance, they were actually warm-blooded.
A striking particularity of gorgonopsians lies in the position of their legs. Unlike reptiles, their limbs were arranged more vertically, allowing them to move more efficiently and hunt more easily. These animals therefore had a mode of locomotion intermediate between reptiles and mammals.
Although gorgonopsians became extinct long before the appearance of dinosaurs, their evolution played an important role in the appearance of the first mammals. The latter, from this lineage, emerged several tens of millions of years later, marking a turning point in the history of life on Earth.
Gorgonopsians are also a keystone for understanding the evolution of predators and the locomotion of land animals through the ages. Their study continues to provide essential information on the adaptation of these ancient creatures to their environment.
