ExtinctZoo - The Deadliest Place On Earth 250,000,000 Years Ago

Episode Date: February 16, 2026

In Soviet Russia, Bear Hunts You. In Permian Russia, Bear Is Screwed.

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That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. Sometimes it feels like Russia is a bit of a fever dream. You have the president riding horses shirtless, polar bears living in houses, drunk Sputniks every day of the week, and then the bitter cold just to top it all off. So, in other words, it doesn't exactly sound like the easiest place to live. And historically, this trend has been quite consistent. I mean, it wasn't so long ago that we had the Soviet Union, gulags, and the KGB mucking about,

and then, during World War II, and even prior, things weren't exactly going that well either. And to that extent, Russians have earned somewhat of reputation for being hardened people. However, here's the thing. As tough, or perhaps as scary as Russia or even the Soviet Union can seem, it was actually not a point in any of these times that the nation was at its peak craziness, I guess you could say, as that time actually occurred a long, long time ago, when Russians weren't even humans yet, rather being primitive apex predators and giant armored reptiles, among some other more interesting life forms.

But that being said, what really made this lost Russia so terrifying wasn't just the animals, as rather it was here that an apocalypse of untold magnitudes would unfold, decimating not only Russia, but the entire planet. And so that I say, welcome, friends. Welcome to the late Permian, the scariest point in time Russia has ever been. However, to be more accurate, it would be better for me to say Russia's plural instead, as during the late Permian, what would one day make up the current country was not just one landmass, but rather a couple, as you had both Siberia and then the European Russia,

which was at the time ostracized from one another, pre-unification Russia, so you could say. And when I said this occurred a while back, I really meant it. Seeing that the late Permian, and in this case, the Lophenian stage, to be specific, transpired between 259 and 251 million years ago. So long enough in the past that you could fast forward by 100 million years, and then still need to wait over 80 million years for the first T-Rex to pop up. So yeah, long time. So naturally, we were talking about a time when Russia would have looked like an alien country on a map,

and a GPS or compass would have done you basically no good. And to add on to this, at the time, the prehistoric superconcounter, continent known as Pangaea still existed, and kept much of the world smushed together. But that being said, things could still be broken down into more specific regions. As to the south, you had the subcontinent of Gantwana, which was made up of various modern continents, such as Africa, South America, Antarctica, Australia, India, and then numerous portions of Asia. And then meanwhile, the rest of the world was surprisingly quite isolated. And this isolation, especially applied to Siberia, which was actually one of the most isolated spots on the entire planet.

And if you were a time traveler that was suddenly dropped here, you'd essentially be stuck. And the first reason for this was due to the sea level, which was much higher during the Permian because of higher global temperatures, resulting the formation of a small and shallow sea, which separated Siberia not only from European Russia, but also from the rest of Europe as well as North America at the time. And then, just to make matters worse from an isolation standpoint, Siberia was also cut off by the presence of a mountain range known as the Ural Mountains. In this range, which still exists, by the way, not only separates the Asian side from

the European side, but it also made Siberia drier than it would have been without them, and also made certain regions of the landmass vulnerable to flooding and polluted air. But with that said, you'd more or less have to get used to it, because I cannot stress enough how futile escape would have been. And this is because, even if you did somehow manage to bypass the Urals and then somehow cross the entire shallow sea, you'd make it to European Russia, sure, but then almost instantly, you'd run into a far larger roadblock that would prevent you from accessing much of the world, and that would be the central Panjean Mountains, one of the largest mountain formations to ever exist. These guys,

stretched out across the entire central portion of Pangaea and had formed following the massive collision between Ere America and Gondwana. And just on average, the mountains within this range were as tall as those found within the Himalayas today, which, mind you, contain Earth's current tallest mountains. And yet, where the central Pangaean had the Himalayas beat hands down, was likely in the length department, stretching out for a much further distance. And to get an idea of how big this range truly was, consider the fact that its remnants are not just one range but multiple, including the Appalachians, Atlas, Bohemian Massif, and the Massive Central. So in other words, a whole lot of rock. And so, given its monumental size and the fact that it cut the supercontinent

in two, the central Pangean mountains naturally at profound impacts in Permian Russia, besides just isolating it, as it created what is known as a rain shadow, and a very large one at that, which blocked monsoonal range from the south from reaching the northern hemisphere, and thus resulting in a further priest-level veridity, which is not exactly welcome news of the Permian in general, was also quite dry and not to mention very, very hot, with much of the interior of the continent being burning deserts that stretched up farther than anything we have today. But with this all said, European Russia, and even more so, Siberia, did have one edge at the time, which were their latitudes. Like today, Russia was, compared to most of the world,

closer to the polar regions, which did lend a helping hand in keeping it from being blistering hot, and result in the presence of a surprising amount of temperate biomes that were in from cold to warm, and were dominated by peltapermassians, such as the genus Tatarina and other related genera, followed by ginkofites and conifers. And then along with tempered biomes, cold deserts and semi-arid floodplains were also quite common throughout Russia. And in some ways, this would have been good news for any time travelers or life in general, as it was actually bearable, whereas in comparison, what were other countries, there would have been a fair shot you'd instantly start baking like a potato chip or drive like a prune if transported there.

However, the bad news to this is that Russia's much more agreeable climate allowed for much more unagreable life, which included many terrifying faces that would end you in very painful ways. And of all the prehistoric nightmares that resided here, none were as successful or as deadly as the Gorgonopsids. Superficially, I guess you could describe this group as being really strange, primitive dogs, but in truth they were not canines, nor even mammals, rather being non-mammalian therapsids, which does imply that they are the ancestors or cousins to the ancestors of the mammals. But at the time no one would have cared about this, and neither would do you if you were teleported back there. As instead the focus

would be that this group had essentially built a Permian empire for themselves, and were by most accounts the most dominant apex predators for great portions of the late Permian. Yet, this empire was really only formed in two places, South Africa, and then, yes, you guessed it, Russia. As besides in these two locations, the group was actually strangely rare, and in some cases, even totally absent, likely being byproduct of the harsh climate in the the rest of the world. Yet what the end result was is that Russia was being run by not just one, but multiple kinds of these prehistoric beasts, including the Pravoslav Levera, Saroctinus, Viatko-Gorgan, Sukogorgon, and the Nakhnezzah. Across the five, each shared the same

general characteristics, which included four legs, being completely terrestrial, a semi-wrecked gate with a logomotory range comparable to that of a crocodile, while then each also proportionally long, large skulls that housed their main weapons of mass destruction. And that would be their elongated upper and sometimes lower canine teeth that are officially classified as saber teeth, which by the way makes them and the group as a whole the first known saber-tooth predators. Pretty cool. And armed with these bad boys, the Gorgans were able to easily take over Siberia. Although, unlike the later saber-toothed cats that are believed to have used their teeth to shank the necks of prey,

gorgans would probably have ended you in a different way. It's armed with more durable but less accurate, reptilian-like jaws and teeth. paleontologists think that these guys would have pulled a quick one on you. We're in the midst of the struggle the gorgon would deliver a devastating bite with its supersized teeth, and then after which it would just retreat and want you slowly wither away from shock, blood loss, and organ damage. And if somehow you manage to stand your feet, well, then they could always deliver another bite to steal the deal. And that's almost scarier, just knowing that even if you survive the first attack, you would not be surviving that much longer, mixing a potent cocktail of hope and agony all in one.

However, the truth is, not all of the gorgans I've listed could actually end you in this way. As in Burmian, Russia, they did come in all shapes and sizes. At the bottom of the totem pole, so to speak, you add the pipsqueaks of the group, which included the Viatko-Gorgon and Nochnitza, two of the smallest gorgans yet to be discovered, and frankly, I'd even classify them as being more cute than scary. And from a distance, you might have even confused them for a small, albeit strange-looking dog, as their size was akin to that of a smaller breed, like a corgi. And actually, in the case in the Nochnica, it was even smaller than this,

being a contender for the tiniest gorgon of all time, with individuals roughly being the same length as a ruler. So, not too threatening. And suffice to say, these two were not hunting giants. And their bites for us would surely be survivable, with their prey likely being made of smaller vertebrates and invertebrates, including amphibians, possibly large insects, and carry-on scraps. However, past these guys, things change quite quickly,

and that safety net for a human-sized prey starts to dwindle rather fast. As up next, you had three medium-sized gorgans, Succo-gorgon, Prabaslav Levia, and the serocytanus, Now, these three were akin to the size of medium-to-large-sized dogs, with the biggest of the bunch being the Provost-Lavlevia, who was about 4'7 inches or 1.4 meters in length. And by the way, it did not have a very long tail, so we are talking about almost all body, making it larger than a German shepherd and armed with its very sharp saber teeth. So unsurprisingly, it, along with the other medium-sized gorgans, were able to take down

a far larger range of animals, and in this size, their limbs also became more important in grappling with prey, with both her hands and feet evolving extra out of the animals. adaptations for nimbleness and dexterity, which also means that you wouldn't just feel their teeth sink into you, but their paws firmly grasping you as well, holding you down so they could dish out maximum damage. And if being hunted by primitive saber-tooth predators the size of German shepherds doesn't sound bad enough, then I've got some great news for you, because it was in Permian Russia that the largest terrestrial predator of the time resided, which not to mention was also possibly the largest carnivore to have ever walked before the Mesozoic period, i.e. the age of dinosaurs. And this was

the Inostransavia, the biggest of all the Gorgonopsids, and by a clear margin at that, with specimens from Russia measuring up to 10 feet or 3 meters long, while rare yet bigger individuals are known of two, some of which appeared to have cracked 3.5 meters or 11 feet and weighing 400 kilos or 880 pounds, making them similar in stature to our own current largest land predator, polar bears. And this also means good luck in trying to out power one of these guys. And not only was the Inostrandsavia big, but proportionally they had massive noggins, as well. Because despite being near equal in weight to a polar bear, their skulls were about 40% larger than that of the bear, and in some cases being bigger than an entire human's torso.

So one bite was literally all it took. And that's before taking any consideration that with this giant skull, it had strangely, or perhaps not strangely, giant favorite teeth as well, with each being comparable to the tooth of a giant Megalodon, which literally was possibly over a hundred times its size. So yeah, you do not want to be bitten by this guy. And in the case that Sroncevia, not only did it have some serious chompers, it also had a serious gape, as it had a significantly large opening angle that allowed it to open its mouth up to 90 degrees, allowing for not only a frightening cheese, but also a frighteningly fatal bite, with his teeth sinking deep into flesh, muscle, and probably often straight into the vital organs of prey, who, by the way,

were often themselves, very large and armored. So I have no doubt it would have any trouble killing us. And just to top it all off, not only were you guaranteed to die if it could, but it could caught to you, it also would likely catch you, as it had a fairly efficient mode of locomotion, which was derived enough that paleontologists believe it was the most agile animal within its environment, capable of moving a bit like a lion, while further possessing a remarkably keen sense of smell. So this was definitely not an animal you want to run into, nor even live in the same area as. And so this leads to one question, at least in my mind, which is, if you were trapped in

Permian Russia, could you have avoided dying to one of these guys? And the answer is, Probably not. One of those days a Gorgon almost surely would have gotten you. But there is one tip that could be helpful to any future time travelers, which is that at least based on the remains of the fossils, it seems that Gorgon obsids and especially Ambition comes in all shapes and sizes. At First Citizens Bank, we roll with your goals because we're built for what you're building. Fit for your ambition for Citizens Bank. The larger ones were highly concentrated around river ecosystems, where rich populations. of diverse tetrapods were found. So, I guess your best chance was to avoid all water at the same time. So, yeah, good luck surviving. And just to add to your misfortunes,

even if you did somehow manage to avoid this group entirely, there were certainly other problems in Permian Russia, as yet another dynasty of predators called this region home. At the time, we're actually quickly picking up steam. And that would be the Theresephalians. This is again a situation where you have weird-looking animals that appear to be some sort of primitive mammals. But like the Gorgans,

Therosophalians were neither mammals, nor reptile, instead, being again, non-omalian therapsids, who are, by the way, not that is similarly related from Gorgans as well. And so with that said, it probably makes sense that two even superficially looked quite a bit like each other, with carnivorous therophalians typically possessing a similar body plant and enlarged canines. Albeit theirs are not considered true saber-teeth teeth. And if you're wondering why, check out my video on saber-teeth teeth animals to find out why. Meanwhile, like the former, Therisophalians also sported large heads, which actually led to their name, which translates to the beast heads. However,

they were still distinctly different in one very key way compared to the Gorgans, which was that being that they were younger in age and thus less primitive, they possessed more advanced features, including an enlargement of the temporal openings, which allowed for broader jaw muscles, while their nasal cavities were constructed more advancedly too. And so in some, they weren't a lot like the Gorgans, but just less primitive. And so naturally, they did pretty well for themselves in Russia, which, just like the Gorgans, was the only spot besides South Africa once again, that this group was abundant. And actually, they were even more diverse, with there having been dozens of genera spread

between multiple clades of therosophalians. Yet, some were no doubt more successful than others, and in Permian Russia, the most dominant group by far was the Akito-Nathodei. These guys were, unsurprisingly, larger therosophalians that were equipped the robust bodies, sturdy broadheads, and large connoformed teeth. They had only appeared during the late Permian, but almost immediately became apex predators in their respective niches, and in some cases even challenged the supremacy of the grotesque of the gorgonopsids, and this included numerous kinds that would have competed with the small

and medium-sized gorgans, yet there was also one member from this family that was calling out the Inosran saviah directly, and that would be the Mosca rhinus. Now, this monstrosity was large, but it was no Inosrancavia, being more akin to the size of a lioness than a polar bear. Yet it was still able to compete with the Inostran saviah, thanks to its very effective hunting strategy that was comparable to what is seen in large cats today, consisting of piercing prey and vulnerable body parts, such as the neck, and holding the struggling animal down with its teeth, which weren't just long and razor sharp, but extremely thick as well, letting it take down many of the same animals that Inostransavia could

and without the risk of teeth breakage. And in some cases, the advantages of the Ketonephidae went further than just hunting tactics and thick teeth. As one member, the Ucamburgia might have had an additional seeker weapon. Yet I will have to disappoint because its story is not meant for this video, seeing that it never resided within Russia, but there was another therosophalion that did and also possessed the same weapon. And this was the Megawaitia. And it was this predator, along with the previously mentioned one, who had shown signs of being venomous.

Yes, venomous. And this was again despite not being a snake, reptile, or invertebrate. In general, the Megawaitia was quite a bit like other therophalians. However, its maxillary bones were anything but, as they possessed three channels, which started near the nasal duct, and passed along the roots of the same. the teeth opening up near the sockets of its canines. And into these channels which are believed to a maybe housed venom glands, which, if was the case, would make it among the oldest tetrapod to have acquired this trait. What's more is that if it was venomous, it would also make it

just about the largest venomous animal ever that wasn't a reptile, as the megawaitia was big, even bigger, in fact, than the Mosco rhinus, with large individuals weighing around 300 kilos or 660 pounds, similar to a plump Siberian tiger. And so just imagine that for a second, Being chased by an animal that's roughly the size of a Siberian tiger moves, again, quite a bit like one, and then to top it all off has venomous fangs. Yeah, you know you're done for. And again, there were other therosephalians out there too, not just the ones I just mentioned. So moral of the story is lots of teeth to go around, and already making Permian Russia more than deadly enough.

But here's the thing. We are still only halfway down the iceberg, as there were a lot more mouths to feed in Russia, including a new group of predators that would one day become one of the most abundant on the entire. planet, the Protorosucidae. This was a family of basal archisora forms, though just one kind had evolved during the Lipingian. And like the others, it chose Russia to call home. I guess there's something in the air or the water there. And this guy was called the archosaurus.

And yes, the archaaur in the name is based off of it having been an archaosaur. And in fact, one of the oldest ones at that, with it still being considered the oldest undisputed archaesore form that we know of, with that group encompassing all archaurs and their relatives. So dinosaurs, Crocs, terrors, etc. This guy is basically the great-great-grandfather. But with that said, the archosaurus was a rather derby-looking archosaur, having a hooked face lined with highly sharpened teeth. But its appearance was no laughing matter, as the bite from one of these guys would seriously

hurt, considering that specimens were usually between 3 meters or 10 feet long once fully grown. And one day, the descendants of this genus would diversify to fill many different niches, including semi-aquatic ones. But for now, the archaosaurus seems have mostly been a terrestrial predator. And seeing then just how much danger there was on land, you might start thinking that your best shot in Permian Russia to survive would be to jump straight into the water, something which we usually advise time travelers not to do. But this actually would not have been a terrible idea, as freshwater rivers were present and void of obviously all the terrestrial problems. But you'd probably be hard-pressed to think you were totally safe getting in.

As today in certain parts of the world, your top worries about getting into freshwater would usually be sharks, predatory fish, and crocodilians. But back then, it was a completely different story. Instead, what you'd have to watch out for creeping into the waters were amphibians of all things. Now, you have to remember, the Permian was coming fresh off the Carboniferous, which was the Golden Age for amphibians. So, while not as powerful as they once were, this group still held impressive sway, so you could say, and were the undisputed rulers of Russia's freshwater systems. Back then, you could find many kinds of these creepy crawlies of the legs swimming about,

but in my opinion, the worst of the bunch were the archaigoseroidio. sometimes known as the copycat crox. And the reason for this nickname is, well, quite apparent when you take a look at them, as they superficially resembled crocodilians, having long bodies, powerful extended tails, and elongated snouts. And actually, and perhaps unsurprisingly, paleontologists believed they lived a lot like crocs too, occupying a similar ecological niche, and were often journalists hunters that relied on ambushes to stage devastating strikes on numerous kinds of animals, including those, of course,

that ventured too close to the water. And generally speaking, this slot also tended to lean on the head. heftier side as well. And during the Carboniferous, they even broke the code, so to speak, as the world saw the rise of the Prinasukas, a Brazilian amphibian that often grew to be 5.5 meters or 18 feet long, while fragmentary remains suggest possible much greater lengths of nearly 9 meters or 30 feet, and a weight of close to 2 tons, making a contender for the largest amphibian of all time. And while this monster was thankfully extinct by the late Permian, its descendants persisted within the ancient Soviet waters and was comprised of a few members that were

certainly large in their own rights, some reaching more than two meters or 6.5 feet, while one genus, the Konzikovia, was a 10-footer or 3-meter-long predator, which weighed more than a fully-grown jaguar, and was equipped with a giant paddle-like tail, allowing it to easily surf through the waters in spite of its large skull and build. And then, while not dangerous, you also had some amphibians around that were simply very odd, as they possessed features not seen in the group anymore, which is nicely demonstrated by the Zygosaurus, for example, a smaller amphibian that was armored, and yes, armored-plated like you might imagine a crocodile, which just goes to show that I guess you really needed to be built different back then just to survive.

And these kind of defensive adaptations were very much crucial, and not just because there was predatory amphibians, but also because there were other river monsters to worry about as well, notably the cronyosucodei. In some ways, this group was even more like crocodilians than amphibians, having similar bodies, more busily built jaws, and armor that came in the form of osteoderms, which ran down their backs, offering protection against competing amphibians and others of their own kind, as members of this group tended to follow the rule of being quite feisty, which is, once again, a trade shared by crocodilians. And thus far, six identifiable genera known to have lived in

Russia during the Lepindian, and like the others in this video, they two greatly ranged in size, with the greatest having been the Bistroviana and the Eralipaton, two members that were each about to nine feet or 2.7 meters long. And in the case, of the Euralapaton was also surprisingly retuned, making them among the larger animals in the water, and absolutely capable of taking down megafaunal animals with ambush tactics, using their pointed and chronicle teeth to grip and tug victims into the depths and thus into their doom. On the flip side, the smaller kinds, such as the croniosuchus and chroniosaurus, were not apex predators, but did spread some terror in the name of their family,

as some studies do suggest that the little ones were more capable of terrestrial hunting along with the regular hunting in the water. So basically imagine of mini crocs somehow learned how to sprint on land and hunt effectively, while also being able to swim. So all in all, it's probably pretty clear by now just how lethal life was to, well, life in Permian Russia. And I haven't even included the animals that aren't exactly out to get you, though it still makes you feel a bit uncomfortable, to say the least, like giant bugs the size of birds, such as the Megynura, or the tough son-of-gun herbivores that somehow managed to thrive there,

including the armored to periosaurus, who actually outsized all the predators in the lands, growing large enough to be the same size as large rhinos. Then there were also the herbivorous dicycinogens like the Lestros, the barrel-chested Kasea Soria, the tooth Gakidae, and then many others. And frankly, speaking of many others, there was also obviously a lot more carnivores on top of the ones mentioned as well. And though the unnamed groups tended to be a little bit less ferocious than those I have touched on, the point still stands.

Permian Russia was one interesting and one very dangerous place, no doubt. Yet, ironically, despite how absurd and crazy the inhabitants of Permian, Russia were, the true reason why this was its scariest point and the scariest place in the planet is because Permian Russia was the mother of all taking time bombs. To be exact, it was Siberia that possessed a very dirty little secret. Although, calling this a little secret is kind of an understatement, understatement of the Eon, that is, as I am talking about the Siberian traps. You may not know this, but much of Siberia is actually made up of very ancient lava. In other words, there used to be giant volcanoes, and it was during late Permian that it erupted, in an event now known as

the gray dying. And why is it called that? Well, because this eruption essentially caused the worst extinction event in Earth's history, killing up to, you know, 98% of all life. Yeah, so if you were stuck there in Siberia, absolutely good luck to you. And being there when the cork finally popped, would have been a show like no other, as you would have witnessed the mother of all lava flows spilling out across the entire subcontinent, and near untold quantities at that, leading to the lava in some areas, piling up to be taller than any man-made structure on the planet. On top of that, fires would have raged around you, smoke would have blotted out the sky, and you, my friend, would have met one very grisly end. And even if you did somehow survive the initial eruption,

your chance of surviving after that were next to none, as the volcanic activity would continue for hundreds of thousands of years, over which not just Siberia, but the entire planet was transformed into one giant hellscape, where brutal heat, intense radiation, a choking atmosphere, and oppressive aridity were just a few of the joys you would come to expect. And again, it all began in Birmingham Russia. Thanks for watching, and until next time, on Exting Zoo. Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination

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