Inostrancevia – Vicious Predator of the Permian

Long before the dinosaurs evolved, other huge prehistoric reptiles roamed the land.  It is always a pleasure to see a new and unusual prehistoric animal added to a range of replicas and we were delighted by the introduction of Inostrancevia (gorgonopsid) by Safari Ltd.

In this short video, we review this model and discuss the therapsids and how they show fossil evidence of being ancestral to mammals.  We use the Inostrancevia model to highlight these anatomical characteristics.

Everything Dinosaur’s Review of Inostrancevia

 Video credit: Everything Dinosaur

Although the gorgonopsids did not survive into the Triassic, we marvel at their adaptations which made them fearsome predators.  One of the biggest was Inostrancevia and in the video we comment on the size and function of the huge “sabre-teeth”.  These over-sized canines were up to twelve centimetres long in the largest specimens.

To view Everything Dinosaur’s range of prehistoric animal models including the Wild Safari Dinos Inostrancevia (whilst stocks of this figure are available): Triassic Prehistoric Animal Models (Safari Ltd).

Although the Palaeozoic lasted much longer than the Mesozoic in terms of geological time, creatures that lived during this era tend to be under represented in the model ranges of manufacturers.  The gorgonopsids were a fascinating group of reptiles, we think they were the first vertebrates to develop sabre-like fangs, an evolutionary adaptation for tackling over vertebrates that has bene repeated on many occasions over the evolution of back-boned animals.