''Dinogorgon'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

gorgonopsid Gorgonopsia (from the Greek Gorgon, a mythological beast, and 'aspect') is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to Upper Permian roughly 265 to 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull ...

from the

Late Permian Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. The generic name ''Dinogorgon'' is derived from Greek, meaning "terrible

gorgon A Gorgon (Help:IPA/English, /ˈɡɔːrɡən/; plural: Gorgons, Ancient Greek language, Ancient Greek: Γοργών/Γοργώ ''Gorgṓn/Gorgṓ'') is a creature in Greek mythology. Gorgons occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature. W ...

", while its species name ''rubidgei'' is taken from the surname of renowned

Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ext ...

paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted on

therapsid Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more ...

s of the

Karoo Basin The Karoo Supergroup is the most widespread stratigraphy, stratigraphic unit in Africa south of the Kalahari Desert. The group (stratigraphy), supergroup consists of a sequence of units, mostly of nonmarine origin, deposited between the Pennsylvan ...

. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

of the genus is ''D. rubidgei''. ''Dinogorgon'' is part of the

gorgonopsia Gorgonopsia (from the Greek Gorgon, a mythological beast, and 'aspect') is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to Upper Permian roughly 265 to 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull, a ...

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Rubidgeinae Rubidgeinae is an extinct subfamily of gorgonopsid therapsids known only from Africa. They were among the largest gorgonopsians, and their fossils are common in the Cistecephalus and Daptocephalus assemblage zones of the Karoo Basin. They lived ...

, a

derived Derive may refer to: * Derive (computer algebra system), a commercial system made by Texas Instruments * ''Dérive'' (magazine), an Austrian science magazine on urbanism *Dérive, a psychogeographical concept See also * *Derivation (disambiguatio ...

group of large-bodied gorgonopsians restricted to the Late

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

(

Lopingian The Lopingian is the uppermost series/last epoch of the Permian. It is the last epoch of the Paleozoic. The Lopingian was preceded by the Guadalupian and followed by the Early Triassic. The Lopingian is often synonymous with the informal terms l ...

). The

subfamily first appeared in the ''Tropidostoma'' Assemblage Zone, and reached their highest diversity in the ''

Cistecephalus ''Cistecephalus'' is an extinct genus of dicynodont therapsid from the Late Permian of southern Africa (South Africa and Zambia). It was a small, specialised, burrowing dicynodont, possibly with habits similar to a modern mole. The head was flat ...

'' and ''

Daptocephalus ''Daptocephalus'' is an extinct genus of non- mammalian synapsid anomodont dicynodont, it which was found in Late Permian strata, in a biozone known precisely for the presence of fossils of this dicynodont, the ''Daptocephalus'' Zone, in the Ka ...

'' assemblage zones of the

Beaufort Group The Beaufort Group is the third of the main subdivisions of the Karoo Supergroup in South Africa. It is composed of a lower Adelaide Subgroup and an upper Tarkastad Subgroup. It follows conformably after the Ecca Group and unconformably underlie ...

History of discovery

The type species of ''Dinogorgon rubidgei'' was discovered on Wellwood farm, a farm owned by the grandfather of Bruce Rubidge, Sidney H. Rubidge, outside of

Graaff-Reinet Graaff-Reinet is a town in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is the oldest town in the province. It is also the sixth-oldest town in South Africa, after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, Paarl and Swellendam. The town was the c ...

. The fossil was likely recovered by Haughton himself sometime in the 1930s or 1940s, and were only described by British paleontologist, Sidney H. Haughton, and

James Kitching James William Kitching (6 February 1922 – 24 December 2003) was a South African vertebrate palaeontologist and regarded as one of the world’s greatest fossil finders. Career His work in the southern hemisphere, including Antarctica, led ...

between 1953 and 1965.

Description

''Dinogorgon'' was one of the largest species of

rubidgeinae Rubidgeinae is an extinct subfamily of gorgonopsid therapsids known only from Africa. They were among the largest gorgonopsians, and their fossils are common in the Cistecephalus and Daptocephalus assemblage zones of the Karoo Basin. They lived ...

, with the skull length of nearly , almost as large as ''

Rubidgea ''Rubidgea'' is a genus of Gorgonopsia, gorgonopsid 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 Kar ...

'' had. It was a formidable predator, and likely preyed on

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and smaller

s. Like more derived rubidgeines, ''Dinogorgon'' had a number of bosses on its skull, likely to reduce the stresses caused by struggling prey. Its snout was deep but narrow, similar to ''

Aelurognathus ''Aelurognathus'' is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian therapsids from the Permian of South Africa. Discovery The type species is ''Aelurognathus tigriceps'', originally named ''Scymnognathus tigriceps'' by South African paleontologists Rober ...

'', but narrower than ''Rubidgea'' and ''

Clelandina ''Clelandina'' is an extinct genus of rubidgeine gorgonopsian from the Late Permian of ''Cistecephalus'' Assemblage Zone of South Africa. It was first named by Broom in 1948. The type and only species is ''C. rubidgei''. It is relatively rar ...

''. It had 4 to 5 upper and lower postcanine teeth, which further distinguishes it from ''

''. Three

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are currently recognised in the genus: ''D. rubidgei'', ''D. quinquemolaris'', and ''D. pricei.''

Classification

The

are a

gorgonopsids that have only been found in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. They are composed of six

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

and 17

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

. The Rubidgeinae are closely related to their sister group, the

Inostranceviinae Inostranceviinae is an extinct subfamily of gorgonopsid therapsids that lived during the Late Permian. Only two genera are known, both from Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning East ...

, which have only been found in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. Out of the

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

, the

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

of the

are the best resolved due to their distinctive character traits. The

of other

n subfamilies remain chaotic due to a high degree of

cranial Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position pro ...

homomorphism between

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

, making it difficult to distinguish different taxa effectively. ''Dinogorgon'' shares many characteristics with ''

'' and ''

'', which has led some authors to synonymize them. All three are now considered to be part of the same

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

, Rubidgeini, rather than the same

. The

cladogram A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...

below (Kammerer et al. 2016) displays currently accepted systematic relationships of the

Gorgonopsia Gorgonopsia (from the Greek Gorgon, a mythological beast, and 'aspect') is an extinct clade of sabre-toothed therapsids from the Middle to Upper Permian roughly 265 to 252 million years ago. They are characterised by a long and narrow skull, a ...

Correlation

Numerous

, including rubidgenae gorgonopsids, are used as

biostratigraphic Biostratigraphy is the branch of stratigraphy which focuses on correlating and assigning relative ages of rock strata by using the fossil assemblages contained within them.Hine, Robert. “Biostratigraphy.” ''Oxford Reference: Dictionary of Bio ...

markers in other African basins, such as the Upper Madumabisa Mudstone of

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, the

Usili Formation The Usili Formation is a Late Permian geologic formation in Tanzania. It preserves fossils of many terrestrial vertebrates from the Permian, including temnospondyls, pareiasaurs, therapsids and the archosauromorph ''Aenigmastropheus''. History ...

, and the Chiweta Beds of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

Gallery

Image:DinogorgonDB.jpg, Artist's impression of the head of ''Dinogorgon rubidgei'', based on the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

skull. image:Dinogorgon BW.jpg, Artist's impression of ''Dinogorgon rubidgei'' by

Nobu Tamura Nobumichi Tamura, often shortened to Nobu Tamura, is a France, French-born Japanese Americans, Japanese American paleoartist and physicist.Ronson, Jacqueline.Meet Nobu Tamura, the Artist and Physicist Determined to Draw All the Dinosaurs, Inver ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q280846 Gorgonopsia Prehistoric therapsid genera Lopingian synapsids of Africa Lopingian genus first appearances Lopingian genus extinctions Permian South Africa Fossils of South Africa Fossils of Tanzania Fossils of Zambia Fossil taxa described in 1936 Taxa named by Robert Broom