Dinogorgon is a
genus of
gorgonopsid from the
Late Permian of
South Africa and
Tanzania. The generic name Dinogorgon is derived from Greek, meaning "terrible
gorgon", while its species name rubidgei is taken from the surname of renowned
Karoo paleontologist, Professor Bruce Rubidge, who has contributed to much of the research conducted on
therapsids of the
Karoo Basin. The
type species of the genus is D. rubidgei.
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. 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 between 1953 and 1965.[5][6][7]
Description
Dinogorgon was one of the largest species of
rubidgeinae, with the skull length of nearly 40 centimetres (16 in), almost as large as Rubidgea had.[8] It was a formidable predator, and likely preyed on
reptiles and smaller
therapsids.[9][10] 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,[11] but narrower than Rubidgea and Clelandina. It had 4 to 5 upper and lower postcanine teeth, which further distinguishes it from Rubidgea.[12][13] Three
subspecies are currently recognized in the genus: D. rubidgei, D. quinquemolaris, and D. pricei.
Dinogorgon shares many characteristics with Rubidgea and Clelandina, which has led some authors to synonymize them. All three are now considered to be part of the same
tribe, Rubidgeini, rather than the same
genus. The
cladogram below (Kammerer et al. 2016) displays currently accepted systematic relationships of the
Gorgonopsia.
^Viglietti, P.A., Smith, R.M., Angielczyk, K.D., Kammerer, C.F., Fröbisch, J. and Rubidge, B.S. (2016-10-10). "The Daptocephalus Assemblage Zone (Lopingian), South Africa: a proposed biostratigraphy based on a new compilation of stratigraphic ranges". Journal of African Earth Sciences. 113: 153–164.
Bibcode:
2016JAfES.113..153V.
doi:
10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2015.10.011.{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
link)
^Kammerer, Christian F.; Smith, Roger M. H.; Day, Michael O.; Rubidge, Bruce S. (2015). "New information on the morphology and stratigraphic range of the mid-Permian gorgonopsian Eriphostoma microdon Broom, 1911". Papers in Palaeontology. 1 (2): 201–221.
doi:
10.1002/spp2.1012.
ISSN2056-2802.
S2CID128762256.
^Broom, Robert. "20. On a New Family of Carnivorous Therapsids from the Karroo Beds of South Africa." In Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, vol. 108, no. 3, pp. 527-533. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 1938.
^Kitching, J.W., 1953. Studies on new specimens of the Gorgonopsia.
^Jenkins, Ian; Valkenburgh, Blaire Van (2002-10-01). "Evolutionary Patterns in the History of Permo-Triassic and Cenozoic Synapsid Predators". The Paleontological Society Papers. 8: 267–288.
doi:
10.1017/S1089332600001121.
ISSN1089-3326.
^Kemp T. S.; Parrington Francis Rex (1969-09-04). "On the functional morphology of the gorgonopsid skull". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 256 (801): 1–83.
Bibcode:
1969RSPTB.256....1K.
doi:
10.1098/rstb.1969.0036.
^Kermack, Doris M.; Kermack, Kenneth A. (1984), Kermack, Doris M.; Kermack, Kenneth A. (eds.), "Dentitions, Tooth-Replacement and Jaw Articulation", The Evolution of Mammalian Characters, Springer US, pp. 66–88,
doi:
10.1007/978-1-4684-7817-4_5,
ISBN9781468478174
^Sigogneau-Russell, D., 1989. Theriodontia 1: Phthinosuchia, Eotitanosuchia, Gorgonopsia.
^Gebauer, Eva V. I. (2014), "Re-assessment of the Taxonomic Position of the Specimen GPIT/RE/7113 (Sauroctonus parringtoni comb. Nov., Gorgonopsia)", in Kammerer, Christian F.; Angielczyk, Kenneth D.; Fröbisch, Jörg (eds.), Early Evolutionary History of the Synapsida, Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology, Springer Netherlands, pp. 185–207,
doi:
10.1007/978-94-007-6841-3_12,
ISBN9789400768413