ExtinctZoo - The Only Time In History That Water Was Safer Than Land

Episode Date: September 21, 2024

You know how I've reiterated that you shouldn't get into the water, no matter how bad things get on land, well... there is ONE exception to this rule. 0:00Nature’s Unspoken Rule And The Period That Broke It 00:45Geography & Oceanography 02:15What Lived In The Oceans & Seas 03:56What Caused Life In The Water To Be So Unscary? 04:35The Opposite Story On Land & Earth’s Old Rulers 05:11Earth’s Original Sabre-Tooths (Gorgonopsids) 06:30The Largest Predator & Gorgon Around 08:45Permian Russia Was A Problem 09:18The Giant Gorgonopsids That Ruled Africa 10:47More More More Gorgons 11:27The Gorgonopsid’s Nemesis (Therocephalians) 12:18First Animals To Evolve Venom? 12:50Jaguar Sized Predator With A Lion Sized Head 13:35Largest Non-Gorgonopsid Land Carnivore 14:25Other Late Permian Carnivores 15:20Amphibians 16:30Herbivores & The Largest Animal On Earth 18:28Prehistoric Skies WITHOUT Pterosaurs 19:21Mother Nature Wanna Kill You Too (The Great Dying)

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and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamavat Theater.com, only at Yamava Resort and Casino, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You in? Must be 21 to enter. There seems to be an unspoken rule in nature, where life in the ocean and seas must always be far scarier than life on land. This is largely seen today and is also seen throughout history, with even the age of dinosaurs having had aquatic nightmares that would have given you more he-be-jeebies than the likes of the T-Rex or Dramasaurus, for example. In fact, it's actually quite hard to find a moment in Earth's history where your best chances were in the water rather than on land. However, there was a short window of time a very long time ago, as in before the dinosaurs existed, where your chances at survival were actually better in the oceans and seas, since nearly everything above water,

including Mother Nature, seemed to be designed for maximum nofness. This was the Lophengean. This name most likely means nothing to you, but it represents the last epoch of the Permian period and played out between 259 and 251.9 million years ago, which means that it bordered the Triassic period and led to people nicknaming it, the late Permian. This was one of those periods in history where Earth was unrecognizable in nearly every sense, including when it came to time itself, as during those days, the moon had a closer orbit with Earth, causing the days to be shorter than they are currently at around 22 hours.

To add on to the confusion, geography was nothing like it is today either, since most of Earth's landmass was tied up into the supercontinent Pangaea, leading to Africa, the Americas, Antarctica, India, Australia, and parts of Europe all being connected. Only to the east could you find decently sized land masses that were free of Pangaea's clutches, with the largest quote-unquote island consisting of present-day Siberia, Kazakhstan, and North China. While to the south you would have swam into another island composed of South China and various regions of Southeast Asia. Additionally, Turkey, Iran, and Tibet were also islands at this point,

being surrounded by the Tethyst Ocean on one side and the paleo-tethystos on the other. Combined, these two bodies of water were undeniably large, but there were still nothing compared to the super ocean that lay just west of Pangae, Pantalassa. This prehistoric ocean was unlike anything before it or after it, and it occupied well over 60% of the Earth's surface, outsizing the current Pacific Ocean by two times. Just imagining an ocean that is double the size of the Pacific is nerve-wracking, and probably meant that you should have avoided it like the plague. Despite its grand size, Panthalassa and the other oceans, for that matter, were all actually fairly

tame when it came to what was in them. There were, of course, sharks, who had evolved 200 million years earlier, and if you're something of a Permian enthusiast, then you might be picturing the Helicoprion, an 8-meter or 26-foot-long shark that has become something of the poster child for the Permian marine megafauna, and possessed one of the strangest and most unsettling mouths of all time, that consisted of a cluster of large teeth on the bottom jaw, which were arranged into warrens. Yet, while this giant shark was indeed from the Permian, it had already died out by the Lopingian, leaving the oceans rather empty of giant life.

That being said, there were still relatives of this shark swimming about, though none that got that big, as the biggest, helicampetus, was only two meters or 6.5 feet long, similar to the length of a leopard shark, so definitely not an immense threat, especially since its teeth were designed for soft animals like squids, not bony food. Meanwhile, other sharks, like the sphenocanthids and hybidants, while diverse, were even smaller, typically growing no more than one meter or 3.3 feet. The Euryptorids, or sea scorpions, the group of now extinct arthropods, were also present, but were not doing so well, because while they used to be highly diverse and giant during the Devonian period,

they were now on the brink of extinction, having never fully. recovered from the Devonian extinction event, with only two genera being known from this point, and neither were large nor apex predators. And for the most part, pretty much every marine group wasn't doing well, partly due to the Capitanian mass extinction event that had taken place two million years prior. It's a relatively obscure event, but it was actually more deadly than both the KT extinction and the Triassic Jurassic Jurassic extinction. Its effects have been bad everywhere, yet marine life got the brunt of it. And thus, during the Lopingian, you could see some some trilobites, aminoids, and cephalopods lurking about, but not in any great numbers or size.

And things would only get worse for marine life, but we'll get to that later. At this moment, the waters of the late Permian should sound quite boring. But this is a key fact to take solace in, as on land you would have gotten no breaks. Like in the water, the Capitanian extinction had brought devastation to terrestrial life. However, life on land recovered more swiftly, and was actually made arguably more dangerous than before. since the extinction took out the old rulers of the earth, the Dinocephalians, and therefore leaving the door open for new rulers to arise. The Dinosophalians was a group that consisted of large-bodied therapsids,

who were extremely diverse and plentiful throughout most of the early and mid-Permian. Yet despite their success, they failed to make it to the late Permian. This absence allowed multiple groups to get ahead, but there was one group in particular who benefited the most, unfortunately for others, and that was the Gorgonopsids. These prehistoric animals were first discovered by paleontologists all the way back in 1876, and their remains were so horrifying that the researchers decided that the Gorgans from Greek mythology were the perfect monsters to name them after.

While diverse, Gorgonopsids still generally shared the same characteristics, which included deep-set teeth, parasagital gates, long narrow skulls, and razor-sharp elongated incisors and canines, making them among the first saber-toothed predators to evolve. This presence of saber teeth made them look a bit like saber-toothed cats, such as the Smilodon, and their bodies were superficially similar too. But these killers were neither cat nor feline. They weren't even mammals, as a matter of fact.

Instead, they appeared to have been therapsids, like the dynosophalians before them, who were more closely related to mammals than reptiles, but still were not mammals. And like the dynosophalians, Gorgonopsis had been around during a good chunk of the Permian, first appearing 265 million years ago. during the middle stage. In those times, these saber-toothed predators were very small, being no larger than a person's foot, making them one of the smaller creatures at that time, and forcing them to hunt small therapsids and reptiles. However, as time passed and each new genus evolved, they got bigger and bigger, a trend that exploded during the late Permian

after the eradication of the dynosophalians, which ultimately led to the emergence of the largest gorgonopsid of all time, in Ostrancavia. This predator wasn't just the biggest of its kind, but also the largest terrestrial predator from the late Permian, with exceptional remains suggesting that adults could have been over 11 feet or 3.5 meters long, while weighing over a thousand pounds or 453 kilos, equivalent to the size of a large bear, though on average individuals are more comparable to tigers. In addition to being much larger than most gorgonopsids, the Innosrancavia was also built different, as it possessed extremely sturdy long limbs, which made it both durable and surprisingly fast, allowing it to outpace a myriad of medium

to large-bodied herbivores, which once caught were in for an absolutely terrible time. As the Inostransavia possessed elongated post-canines and supersized upper canines, that were 15 centimeters or six inches long, making them among the largest teeth seen in non-mammalian therapsids. In addition to being lengthy, the weapons were curved and finally serrated, allowing them to easily slice through flesh, incurring massive blood loss and causing catastrophic damage. image to vital organs. But despite clearly being lethal, it's not 100% sure how the Inostrandsavia hunted, with

the two schools of thought being that it either used tactics similar to what is seen in Smilodon's, i.e., taking out the necks, or it would do something similar to a bite and run, letting accumulated blood loss and shock take a toll over time. Regardless, neither are fun ways to go. So you definitely do not want to run into this apex predator, which was also a very hard challenge for animals back then, as Inostranssavia achieved. a widespread range that included now parts of Africa, Asia, and European Russia. This saber tooth also appears to have been very adaptive, as it routinely popped up in a multitude

of very different biomes, such as warm floodplains in South Africa, or cold, arid deserts in Russia, where relief was only found in the occasional shallow lake and thin forests, which consisted of peltispermassian, the dominant flora of the late Permian. It's because it lived in these cold deserts that some paleontologists think that it may have had fur as well. Yet this idea is still unconfirmed. Now, having one giant Gorgonopsid prowling both hemispheres of the earth would have been bad enough. But the late Permian was home to many more than just the Indostransavia, with dozens of other species of Gorgonopsids being known of,

many of which led in the European part of Russia as well, including the smaller Pravoslav Livia and the medium-sized Sucogorgon. Resulting in Gorgonopsids having complete dominance over many ecosystems where herbivores, no matter their size, had a Gorgonopsid as their main predatory. and also making Permian Russia one of the last places you'd want to visit. Although it was actually much worse down in South Africa, where a whole subfamily of giant Gorgonopsids

had independently evolved alongside the Inostrandsavia, and they were the Rubigenae. While the Inostrandsavia was the largest single Gorgonopsid of all time, the Rubigionae were on average the largest family, and were distinguished by robust schools, the lack of a paras phenoid bone, frequent tooth replacement, and the possession of deeply serrated teeth that were likely even better for cutting than those of the Inostransavia.

They were fairly stocky too, with some coming very close in size to the Inostrandsavia, as demonstrated by Rubigia atrox, a species of Gorgonopsid, who resided within what is today South Africa and Tanzania, where it sometimes grew to be 10 feet or 3 meters long. This body size alone made it an apex predator, but what was really impressive and menacing was its skull, as it took up over 15% of an individual's total body length. And not to mention that recovered skulls were also extremely thick and had signs of skull bossing, which are bony protuberances that indicate that this predator was made to bite

and grapple with powerful large prey. Yet coincidentally, like the Smilodon 250 million years after it, the Rubigia did not have a very strong bite, with reconstructions indicating a bite force of around 750 newtons, only 20% more powerful than the bite of a wolf, which really just shows how well-designed its teeth were for piercing effortlessly through flesh and tough hide. Like the Innostrandsavia,

the Rubidgia would have been able to alter entire ecosystems by its lonesome. Yet, sadly, for all, it was almost never alone. As indirect evidence suggests that it routinely coexisted with other members of its subfamily, it consisted of nine genera, all ranging in size from medium to large. And if this wasn't bad enough, it's now thought that it coexisted within Ostransavia, too, since both had a presence in late Permian South Africa.

Given their similar size and fairly similar builds, the two most likely shared the same predatorial niche, likely leading to frequent conflict. And that all goes to say that this truly was the planet of the Gorgonopsids, and their dominating presence on land made water a definite safer choice. But just to really prove the point, I should also mention the late Permian was home to many other predators too, that were nightmarish within their own right, with the most notable examples being the

therosephalians. In an emerging trend, this clade was once again therapsids and originated during the Middle Permian, although unlike the Gorgonopsids, they had not achieved such large sizes in this time. Although they were equally widespread, and actually more diverse, with species being found across Russia, Antarctica, Africa, and China. A small handful were even herbivores, but the vast majority were predators, who actually could have been confused for Gorgonopsids to the untrained eye, as they too had relatively large skulls and similar body plans. But there were key differences, with therosephalians tending to have broader deep skulls, smaller, straight teeth, shorter bodies, and more compacted builds. And as mentioned, they were more diverse, resulting in many developing

hunting techniques not seen in Gorgonopsids. And there were even a chance that a couple, namely the dog-sized Ichi Bengops and Yu-Kimberzia were venomous, which, if accurate, would make them the first tetrapods to have evolved venom. You also had ones that are often interpreted as being semi-aquatic creatures, like the Ictido Sukids, while others were fully terrestrial, hunting large animals using unusual saber teeth, as showcased by the Skylaka swords. But of all the Therosophalians, the one who stood out the most was the Mosca Rhinus, a jaguar-sized predator with a lion-sized head that was equipped with numerous, very sharp conical teeth.

Its disproportionately large head suggested a fairly strong bite, and paleontologists think that it hunted prey by pinning them down with its powerful forelims, before dealing out damage with its razor-sharp teeth and powerful jaws. And to further its legacy, fossil records show that Mosco rhinus was among the most abundant therosophalian during the late Permian, and one of the only non-gorgonopsids to have achieved apex predator status, perhaps even replacing gorgonopsids in certain environments. But interestingly enough, while not as successful as Mosca Rhinis, there were bigger therosophalians, including the Megawaitia,

a three-meter or nine-foot-long distant relative of the Moscaurinus, who prowled European Russia during the first half of the Lepengin. To date, it is the largest known therosophalian, and based on coprolites, aka fossilized feces, we know that it likely fed upon large dicinodonts, which it might have killed by using venom. Specifically, some studies on its skull seems to suggest that in life it had a venom gland, and possibly multiple venom ducts, that would have delivered fatal amounts into prey while biting them. However, because remains from its prey tend to be in poor condition, this claim is not fully accepted

by the paleontology community. By this point, the late Permian should come across as a hectic place, with thericephalians and Gorgonopsids running about. But even they were not the entire iceberg, since there were still a bunch of other carnivores, all very distinct and unusual in appearance. For starters, you had the superficially crock-like protorosucids, who were slender but could still be rather large, and were equipped with giant needle-like teeth. Unlike the previously mentioned carnivores, this group were reptiles, and were either terrestrial or semi-aquatic hunters who were found on every continent besides Antarctica and North America. Then there was the cronio-sukia, who were again

superficially crock-like, but had extensive armor along their backs as well, perhaps to help protect against attacks from large therapsids. Members of this group could be quite different, and were sometimes fully terrestrial, and other times semi-aquatic. And while there were usually no larger than a monitored lizard, some genera, like the Uralurptan, could get quite sizable, specifically in European Russia, where specimens grew to be the same size as female American alligators. Amphibians, or rather primitive amphibians, were also present and thriving on Pangaea, and were honestly the biggest reason why an animal should be wary around fresh water, as many evolved to be specialized ambush hunters that opportunistically fed on anything that could catch in the water,

or anything that ventured too close to the water's edge. Of the numerous families that existed, arguably the most lethal to human-sized prey, were the Ryan Sukede, a family of tetrapods from which living amphibians likely descended from. Each species had four limbs, a fairly long tail, and body shapes akin to that of giant salamanders or crocodilians. The largest member you could find in a body of fresh water was the Uranocentradon, a 13-foot or 4-meter behemoth that resided in South Africa, along with our friends the Gorgonopsids and Therosophalians. Talk about a bad place to live. And then in European Russia, that also had its fair share of hunters, there were the archa-gosauridae to make up for the missing Iranocentradon.

This was yet another tetrapodal family, but they were more slender and narrow than the Rhine Sukids, but could still get pretty big, with Cern genera, like the Melasaurus, reaching 10 feet or 3 meters from head to tail. With so much going on, it's hard to believe that herbivores even managed to survive, but they sure did. And across large swathes of pangea, you would have stumbled into an array of dicinodons, synodons, ceptorinids, andes. and perareptiles. Compared to the carnivores, herbivores were actually more diverse and had developed many tools to survive. One of the more famous herbivores was the Lestrosaurus, a badger to pig-sized dicinidon that was one of the most abundant animals around. It had a rather odd build, but it was

not to be underestimated, as it sported powerful forelimbs and tusks that it may have used to dig deep burrows that granted much-needed protection. And interestingly enough, the art of digging seems to have been relatively common, as totally separate groups, like the cystophallids, also learned to burrow, using their broad skulls to displace large amounts of dirt. Then on the opposite side of the spectrum, you had the Pereosaurs that took a different route and became armored tanks, kind of similar to echinchylosures, minus the club tails. Specifically, species in this clade often had large bony scutes that were set into their skin, and had highly ossified dense heavy bones that provided additional protection. They were also among the largest, if not the largest, late-Perman

animals to have lived, with the most famous member, Scutosaurus, having weighed over 1.2 tons, and being similar in length to large gorgonopsids. At this weight, and given its frame, scutosaurus was a slow-moving animal that relied on its armor to survive. And in its case, its defensive capabilities were further boosted by spikes that adorned its skull, and muscles that were so dense that they were basically impenetrable. This specific genus was only found within European Russia, but as a family, the periosaurs had a global distribution. Additional herbivorous groups worth mentioning include the King Goridae, Emidopidae, Bidentalia, and Vini Day. As wild as the late Permian was, it did have one silver lining, which was that you didn't really have to worry about looking up.

Unlike the Mesozoic, which was home to giant terrors, capable of eating literal dinosaurs, the Permian did not really have any dangerous giants patrolling the sky. There were the griffin flies and paleodict dioptera, which could have given you quite the scare, but they were harmless to large animals, and weren't very abundant nor diverse, thanks to the carboniferous rainforest collapse. Of all the things flying around, the largest animals were probably the Vigeltesauri, a family of gliding reptiles that grew no larger than a big bat. And while having one in your hair would suck,

these guys were only dangerous to insects and spent most of their days on solid ground, or rather in the trees, as their morphology was highly developed for a boreal movement. To make up, though, for the lackluster skies, the late Permian had one more trick up its sleeve, so to speak, and that was Mother Nature itself. If you've been following along, you may have noticed that life seemed to be mostly concentrated in a handful of places, mainly European Russia and Africa. This was because large chunks of land were borderline uninhabitable, with estimates suggesting an average temperature of 35-6%.

Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit, making it twice as hot as the present. This suppressive heat contributed to severe aridity that plagued the supercontinent and resulted in absolutely massive deserts near the equator where life was fairly devoid. To make matters worse, to the north you had the central Pangean mountains, an extensive mountain range that spanned across the entire horizontal length of the continent and creating areas that were prone to severe droughts. To put this into perspective, if such conditions popped up in the present, life would take a serious downturn.

And the crazy part is, is that this nightmarish climate was rather tame for the late Permian. Because if you stick around long enough, until approximately 252 million years ago, you would have witnessed the Earth turned into an apocalyptic wasteland, thanks to the late Permian extinction, otherwise known as the Great Dying, which is a fitting name considering was Earth's worst extinction event of all time. It is commonly believed that this doomed day event started from the eruption of the Siberian traps, or rather it was caused by the eruptions that created the Siberian traps,

a large region of volcanic rock in Siberia that's about the same size as Western Europe. These eruptions are unlike anything ever seen by humanity and decimated the entire planet, causing lava flows a kilometer or 0.6 miles thick and spewing out enough carbon dioxide and sulfur to heat up the surface even more. In some places, it's thought that the average temperature year-round would have risen to be the same as the average temperature of Death Valley during its hottest month. And if you somehow had supernatural heat resistance,

you still likely die from choking on the constant spewing of different gases that led to a drastic drop in oxygen, leading to numerous hypoxia events. And just in case you needed any more evidence that this time was seriously messed up, then also know that some studies report that these volcanic eruptions caused significant damage to the ozone layer, which may have increased ultraviolet radiation by over 5,000% in some parts. Debates linger on how long these effects lasted, but we do know that by the end of them,

the Earth was a very different place, with 57% of all biological families, and 83% of Janera having gone extinct. For comparison, while more abrupt, the KT extinction, which killed the dinosaurs, only killed off about 17% of biological families. And despite how bad things got on land, life in the water actually suffered even more, due to increased water temperatures and acidification. But if you took a dip, you wouldn't have burned to a crisp, and you may have actually enjoyed it, considering the sea temperatures during this event were likely that of a jacuzzi, giving you just one more reason why you'd rather be in the water during this time than on land. Thanks for watching, and until next time.

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