Fossils of saber-toothed predator that gave rise to all mammals discovered
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Scientists have discovered 280 million-year-old fossil remains of a predator that gave rise to all mammals. This ancient animal, which does not yet have a species name, is the member of an evolutionary group known as the gorgonopsians — a distant relative of mammals - that are an extinct clade of saber-toothed therapsids.
![[Gorgonopsians were vaguely dog-like saber-toothed predators that roamed the Earth up to 280 million years ago, this new discovery suggests]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/21/93208865-14199149-image-a-23_1734383053657.jpg)
They were four-legged, slightly reptilian-looking animals that eventually gave rise to mammals roughly 200 million years ago. Co-author Ken Angielczyk said: 'Gorgonopsians are more closely related to mammals than they are to any other living animals.
![[The newly discovered fossils include fragments of skull, vertebrae, and ribs to a very well-preserved femur]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/21/93209475-14199149-image-a-34_1734385120226.jpg)
'While they're not our direct ancestors, they're related to species that were our direct ancestors.'. The newly discovered fossils — which include fragments of skull, vertebrae, and ribs to a very well-preserved femur — belonged to a vaguely dog-like saber-toothed predator that the researchers believe may be the oldest therapsid ever discovered.
![[The presence of a nearly complete leg also allowed researchers to surmise how the animal moved]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/21/93209471-14199149-image-a-33_1734385117025.jpg)
Until now, the oldest known gorgonopsians lived roughly 265 million years ago, but these fossils are roughly 15 million years older. They were unearthed in Mallorca, a Spanish island in the Mediterranean sea. Back when gorgonopsians still roamed the Earth, Mallorca was part of the supercontinent Pangea.
![[The saber teeth suggest this animal was a top-predator at the time it was alive, and confirmed its carnivorous diet]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/16/21/93209479-14199149-image-a-32_1734385108579.jpg)
Fossil remains of the oldest known gorgonopsians allowed researchers to reconstruct what these ancient proto-mammals may have looked like when they were alive. Gorgonopsians were vaguely dog-like saber-toothed predators that roamed the Earth up to 280 million years ago, this new discovery suggests.
