Smilesaurus, an iconic gorgonopsian that lived during the late Permian in what is now South Africa.

Monstrous ‘gorgonians’ survived a mass extinction, but they were a ‘walking dead clade’

Reports of a mass extinction of “gorgonians” at the end of the Permian period have been greatly exaggerated, according to new research. These strange paleo-beasts were thought to have died out along with most other life on Earth at the time, but scientists have recently discovered that some of these so-called gorgonians survived into the …

Monstrous ‘gorgonians’ survived a mass extinction, but they were a ‘walking dead clade’ Read More »