Gorgonopsia is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to the Upper Permian, roughly between 265 and 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull, as well as elongated upper and sometimes lower canine teeth and incisors which were likely used as slashing and stabbing weapons. Postcanine teeth are generally reduced or absent. For hunting large prey, they possibly used a bite-and-retreat tactic, ambushing and taking a debilitating bite out of the target, and following it at a safe distance before its injuries exhausted it, whereupon the gorgonopsian would grapple the animal and deliver a killing bite. They would have had an exorbitant gape, possibly in excess of 90°, without having to unhinge the jaw.
Gorgonops is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsid, of which it is the type genus. Gorgonops lived during the Late Permian (Wuchiapingian), about 260–254 million years ago in what is now South Africa.
Inostrancevia is an extinct genus of large carnivorous therapsids which lived during the Late Permian in what is now European Russia and Southern Africa. The first-known fossils of this gorgonopsian were discovered in the context of a long series of excavations carried out from 1899 to 1914 in the Northern Dvina, Russia. Among these are two near-complete skeletons embodying the first described specimens of this genus. It is also the first gorgonopsian identified in Russia. Several other fossil materials were discovered there, and the various finds led to confusion as to the exact number of valid species, before only two of them were formally recognized, namely I. alexandri and I. latifrons. A third species, I. uralensis, was erected in 1974, but the fossil remains of this taxon are very thin and could come from another genus. More recent research carried out in South Africa aand Tanzania has discovered specimens identified as belonging to this genus, with the South African specimens being classified within the species I. africana. The whole genus is named in honor of Alexander Inostrantsev, professor of Vladimir P. Amalitsky, the paleontologist who described the taxon.
Lycaenops ("wolf-face") is a genus of carnivorous therapsids. It lived during the Middle Permian to the early Late Permian, about 260 mya, in what is now South Africa.
Dicynodon is a genus of dicynodont therapsid that flourished during the Upper Permian period. Like all dicynodonts, it was an herbivorous animal. This synapsid was toothless, except for prominent tusks, hence the name. It probably cropped vegetation with a horny beak, much like a tortoise, while the tusks may have been used for digging up roots and tubers.
Dinogorgon is a genus of gorgonopsid from the Late Permian of South Africa and Tanzania. The generic name Dinogorgon is derived from Greek, meaning "terrible gorgon", while its species name rubidgei is taken from the surname of renowned Karoo paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted on therapsids of the Karoo Basin. The type species of the genus is D. rubidgei.
Sauroctonus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids who lived during the end of the Middle Permian in what is now European Russia. The first fossils, discovered in Tatarstan, were initially believed to belong to a new species of the South African genus Arctognathus. The taxon was designated as such until 1940, when it was assigned to the genus Inostrancevia by Ivan Yefremov, before being definitively classified in a separate genus erected by Alexey Bystrow. The most complete, known fossils of S. progressus include cranial and postcranial elements, currently all recorded from Tatarstan. These elements show that the animal was a mid-sized gorgonopsian.
Arctops is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids known from the Late Permian of South Africa. It measured up to 2 metres in length and its skull was 30 centimetres (12 in) long. The type species is Arctops willistoni. A second species, A. watsoni, may be synonymous with A. willistoni. A. kitchingi may be a third species of Arctops, but it was only tentatively assigned to the genus when it was first named. Both were formally synonymized with A. willistoni by Christian Kammerer in 2017.
Arctognathus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsids that throve during the Late Permian in the Karoo basin of what is now South Africa.
Rubidgea is a genus of gorgonopsian from the upper Permian of South Africa and Tanzania, containing the species Rubidgea atrox. The generic name Rubidgea is sometimes believed to be derived from the surname of renowned Karoo paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted on therapsids of the Karoo Basin. However, this generic name was actually erected in honor of Rubidge's paternal grandfather, Sidney Rubidge, who was a renowned fossil hunter. Its species name atrox is derived from Latin, meaning “fierce, savage, terrible”. Rubidgea is part of the gorgonopsian subfamily Rubidgeinae, a derived group of large-bodied gorgonopsians restricted to the Late Permian (Lopingian). The subfamily Rubidgeinae first appeared in the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone. They reached their highest diversity in the Cistecephalus and Daptocephalus assemblage zones of the Beaufort Group in South Africa.
Cyonosaurus is a genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the late Permian of South Africa. Some skulls have been reported from Early Triassic strata, but further investigation revealed that these reports were erroneous. Cyonosaurus was 0.6 to 1.1 metres in length, with a skull 9 to 18 centimetres in length. The type species Cyonosaurus longiceps was named in 1937.
Aloposaurus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa. It was first named by Robert Broom in 1910, and contains the type species A. gracilis, and possibly a second species A. tenuis. This small gorgonopsid had a slender narrow skull only 12 centimetres (4.7 in) long, with a total body length of 60–70 cm (2.0–2.3 ft).
Aelurosaurus is a small, carnivorous, extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Late Permian of South Africa. It was discovered in the Karoo Basin of South Africa, and first named by Richard Owen in 1881. It was named so because it appeared to be an ancestor for cat-like marsupials, but not yet a mammal itself. It contains five species, A. felinus, A. whaitsi, A. polyodon, A. wilmanae, and A.? watermeyeri. A. felinus, the type species, is generally well described with established features, while the other four species are not due to their poorly preserved holotypes.
Scylacops is an extinct genus of Gorgonopsia. It was first named by Broom in 1913, and contains two species, S. bigendens, and S. capensis. Its fossils have been found in South Africa and Zambia. It is believed to be closely related to the Gorgonopsian Sauroctonus progressus. Scylacops was a moderately sized Gorgonopsid.
Broomisaurus is an extinct genus of Gorgonopsia. It was first named by Joleaud in 1920, and contains the single species B. planiceps. Gebauer (2007) considered Broomisaurus to be a nomen dubium, indistinguishable as a separate taxon of gorgonopsian because it is based on only a fragmentary remains. A 2015 paper on Eriphostoma tentatively agreed with Gebauer's determination, but did not rule out the possibility that Broomisaurus might be synonymous with Eriphostoma.
Cerdorhinus is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Permian of South Africa. The type species Cerdorhinus parvidens was named by South African paleontologist Robert Broom in 1936. A second species, Cerdorhinus rubidgei, was named in 1937. In 2007, a specimen of the latter was reassigned to the genus Cyonosaurus.
"Dixeya" nasuta is a extinct species of gorgonopsian that lived during the Late Permian of East Africa, known from fossils found in what is now Tanzania. The species has a complicated taxonomic history, it was originally named as a second species of the genus Dixeya which is now considered a junior synonym of Aelurognathus. "D." nasuta itself, however, was not moved to Aelurognathus, and although it was instead tentatively referred to Arctognathus at first it has since been recognised to not belong to this genus either. This situation leaves "Dixeya" nasuta without a formal genus name. It was proposed to belong to a new distinct genus, named "Njalila", that was informally proposed for the species in a PhD thesis, but this name has not yet been formally published and is currently a nomen nudum. "D." nasuta has been characterised from other gorgonopsians by a combination of its straight snout profile, upturned and "pinched" nose, and curved jaw margin. The fossil record of the Usili Formation shows that the taxon was contemporary with many other gorgonopsians, even alongside large representatives such as Inostrancevia and rubidgeines.
Turfanodon is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian Sunan, Guodikeng, and Naobaogou Formations of China. The holotype of T. bogdaensis was discovered between 1963-1964 and was originally named in 1973 by A. Sun with the type species Turfanodon bogdaensis, Turfanodon was reclassified as a junior synonym of the related Dicynodon in 1988 by G. M. King. T. bogdaensis remained a species of Dicynodon for over two decades before the genus was reinstated in 2011 in a revision of the taxonomy of Dicynodon by palaeontologist Christian Kammerer. A second species from Inner Mongolia, T. jiufengensis, was named in 2021 by palaeontologist Jun Liu from a nearly complete skeleton and other referred bones. Turfanodon was a relatively large dicynodont, and similar in appearance to the related Daptocephalus from South Africa.
Bulbasaurus is an extinct genus of dicynodont that is known from the Lopingian epoch of the Late Permian period of what is now South Africa, containing the type and only species B. phylloxyron. It was formerly considered as belonging to Tropidostoma; however, due to numerous differences from Tropidostoma in terms of skull morphology and size, it has been reclassified the earliest known member of the family Geikiidae, and the only member of the group known from the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone. Within the Geikiidae, it has been placed close to Aulacephalodon, although a more basal position is not implausible.
Phorcys is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian that lived during the Middle Permian period (Guadalupian) of what is now South Africa. It is known from two specimens, both portions from the back of the skull, that were described and named in 2022 as a new genus and species P. dubei by Christian Kammerer and Bruce Rubidge. Phorcys was recovered from the lowest strata of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) of the Beaufort Group, making it one of the oldest known gorgonopsians in the fossil record—second only to fragmentary remains of an indeterminate specimen from the older underlying Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone. The generic name is from Phorcys of Greek mythology, the father of the Gorgons from which the gorgonopsians are named after, and refers to its status as one of the oldest representatives of the group.
