Reconstruction of the appearance in life of a gorgonopsian in a floodplain of the Permian of Mallorca. Illustration © Henry Sutherland Sharpe.
Scientists have discovered the oldest known animal with ‘sabre teeth’; a fossil dog-sized predator found in Mallorca.
Gorgonopsians are an extinct group of synapsids that lived during the Permian, between 270 and 250 million years ago.
They belong to the evolutionary lineage that would give rise to the first mammals 50 million years later.
They were warm-blooded animals like modern mammals, but, unlike most of them, they laid eggs.
They were carnivorous and were the first animals to develop the characteristic sabre teeth.
They were often the super-predators of the ecosystems in which they lived, and their appearance would be similar to a dog, but without ears or fur.
The remains recovered in Mallorca belong to a small to medium-sized animal, approximately one metre in length, and come from a site located in the municipality of Banyalbufar (Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca, Spain).
Excavations were carried out in three different campaigns during which a large quantity of material was recovered.
First author Rafel Matamales, curator of the Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals (MUCBO | MBCN) and research associate at the Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), said: “The large number of bone remains is surprising.
“We have found everything from fragments of skull, vertebrae, and ribs to a very well-preserved femur.
“In fact, when we started this excavation, we never thought we would find so many remains of an animal of this type in Mallorca.”
The silhouette of the described animal showing the different anatomical elements recovered during the excavation. Credit: Eudald Mujal/ SMNS. CC BY-ND.
Oldest gorgonopsian
Its location of the specimen in the Balearic Islands is an unusual fact in itself.
The known remains of gorgonopsians prior to this discovery belonged to very high latitudes such as Russia or South Africa.
Its age has also surprised the researchers who conducted the study.
Senior author Josep Fortuny, who is also leader of the Computational Biomechanics and Evolution of Life History research group at the ICP, said: “It is probably the oldest gorgonopsian on the planet.
“The one we found in Mallorca is at least 270 million years old, and the other records of this group worldwide are, at the very least, slightly younger.”
Replica of the sabre tooth fossil. Credit: Anna Solé/ Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont. CC BY-ND.
Remains
Among the excavated fossil remains, a nearly complete leg stands out, which has allowed researchers to study how the animal moved.
Unlike reptiles, which have a more ancestral locomotion with their legs more spread out, gorgonopsians had their legs positioned more vertically and, therefore, moved in a way that was intermediate between reptiles and mammals.
This system is more efficient for walking and especially for running. The recovered sabre teeth confirm its diet.
Àngel Galobart, researcher at the ICP and director of the Museu de la Conca Dellà, said: “We know that this is a carnivorous animal, a characteristic shared by all gorgonopsians worldwide.
“The sabre teeth are a common feature in large predators of ecosystems, and what we have found was likely one in the environment in which it lived.”
The study is published in Nature Communications.
