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Inostrancevia
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A life restoration of Inostrancevia alexandri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
clade: Synapsida
Order: Therapsida
Family: Gorgonopsidae
Subfamily: Inostranceviinae
Genus: Inostrancevia
Amalitsky, 1922
Type species
Inostrancevia alexandri
Amalitsky, 1922
Referred species
  • Inostrancevia alexandri
    Amalitsky 1922
  • Inostrancevia latifrons
    (Pravoslavlev, 1927)
  • Inostrancevia uralensis
    (Tatarinov, 1984)
Synonyms
  • Amalitzkia Pravoslavlev, 1927

Inostrancevia ( named after the Russian geologist Aleksandr Inostrantsev) is the largest of the gorgonopsid species as it was, likely, the top of the food chain in Russia during the end of the Permian period. It preyed on a large herbivores like the pareiasaur Scutosaurus. The species name I. alexandri is known from an almost complete skeleton.

Description[]

DSCN2029

Like all other gorgonopsids, Inostrancevia was a quadrupedal animal with an upright gait. It was up to 4.3 metres or 14 feet long, the size of a large grizzly bear. It is also known from its two huge sabre teeth, up to 12 cm long and are one of the perfect tools to kill prey. Its other teeth included 6 large incisors, and 10 smaller back teeth and the mandibles that contained 14 incisors, in which 8 of them are smaller than the others.

Inostrancevia Alexandri

Inostrancevia predatory behavior depicted by artist: Alexandri

It was one of the largest carnivores of the Permian and would have filled the ecological niche that big cats fill today like the Tiger and Jaguars. It would have also been different from those cats because it would live in the type of environment that lions live in (only far more harsh) but it would have acted like a massive Tiger in that it would have hunted alone. Inostrancevia would have been an extremely fast runner over long distances.

It would have been very territorial in that other predators or Inostrancevia were never welcome similar to today's large carnivores. Its hunting method would have been to lie in wait for an unsuspecting prey item then it would have bound after the creature using its speed to run down the animal then bite the neck until it dies of blood loss or suffocated or both. Then it would have eaten as much as it could. Due to its extremely harsh and arid environment, It would have been a dull colour like grey or brown to blend in to the environment so it could sneak up on its prey.

Other Information[]

Inostrancevia is an extinct genus of carnivorous therapsids, containing the largest members of the family Gorgonopsidae, predators characterized by long, saber-tooth-like canines. The various species inhabited northern Russia during the Upper Tatarian or Vyatskian, a Russian regional stage equivalent to the Wuchiapingian stage of the Late Permian period, dating from approximately 260 to 254 million years ago. It is known from several skulls and two almost-complete skeletons.

The species in Inostrancevia were the largest gorgonopsids known; known individuals have total body lengths reaching up to 3.5 m and long, narrow skulls up to 60 cm long. Like several other gorgonopsids, Inostrancevia was characterized by strongly developed canine teeth, with those of the upper jaw up to 15 cm long, the root corresponding to half its length. Their bodies were slender, with rather short legs. Inostrancevia shared its habitat with Scutosaurus which it likely preyed upon. Their total body lengths reaching up to 3.5 meters and long, narrow skulls up to 60 cm long, weighted around 250 kilograms.

Species[]

  • Inostrancevia alexandrI
  • Inostrancevia latifrons
  • Inostrancevia uralensis

References[]

WWM Ino

Walking with Monsters Inostrancevia

In the media[]

  • Inostrancevia makes an appearance in the last episode, "Clash of Titans", of Walking with Monsters, classified as a "gorgonopsid", was first shown to attack a Scutosaurus as it is the main animal in the part of the episode.
  • In The Complete Guide To Prehistoric Life, the grogonopsid is revealed as Gorgonops. It preyed on other animals, such as Diictodon and the labyrinthodont Rhinesuchus.
  • It makes another appearance the first episode of Dinosaur Revolution as it is shown to be one of the animals to die out from the horrific Permian extinction.
DR Inostrancevia

Dinosaur Revolution Inostrancevia

Gorgonops
  • It also appears in the BBC British TV show Primeval, classified as a "gorgonopsid". In the first episode where it is seen chasing Helen Cutter. 8 years later it shows up where it causes chaos then is seemingly killed.
  • Inostrancevia has also appeared in the Safari Ltd Wild Safari toyline.
  • Inostrancevia appeared in the video game called Dino Crisis 2.
  • Inostrancevia appears in the video game Jurassic world alive.
  • Inostrancevia has also appeared in the new Netflix Original Documentary Series, Life On Our Planet, classified as a "gorgonopsid".

Gallery[]

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