D I M E T R O D E N
The creature with the vertebrate sail is a
reptilian ancestor to modern day mammals and
preceded the dinosaurs by about 40 million years.
Ancient mammals came to dominate the Permian,
a fifty million year stretch that would lead into
the Triassic era and the Age of Dinosaurs.
E R Y O P S
Every bit a reptile except it doesn't lay shelled eggs.
Its legs extended from the side of the body, its belly
nearly dragging the ground, much like the modern
day crocodile does when walking across the land.
This large, ungainly amphibian was also a poor swimmer.
Unable to run down its prey on both land or water
the animal relied upon ambush to capture its meal,
as does the crocodile. They each sport a snout
long enough to contain a very large mouth,
lined with teeth - the better to grab you with
from out of nowhere.
G O R G O N O P S I A N
Here was the apex predator of the middle to
late Permian. This was the Sabertoothed Tiger
of its time, able to run down its prey using
powerful legs that dropped nearly straight
down from its body. Finally, an animal built
to run.
The Gorgonopsian, (Gorgon - a dreaded monster
from Greek mythology) had a mammalian mouth
with various teeth for specific tasks - incisors for
cutting, canines for piercing and molar-like teeth
for crushing. Despite this sophisticated dental work,
the animal was forced to swallow its food whole
because it lacked a secondary palette, a boney
structure that separated the breathing passages
from the mouth. The animal could not breath
while chewing or even just holding its food
in its mouth.
P A N G E A
The various landmasses of the Earth collected into
one supercontinent that stretched from the pole
in the north to the one in the south. The planet was
now divided into one land, surrounded by one ocean.
The interior of this enormous landmass baked
under constant sun, as it was outside the reach
of rains coming off the ocean.
The supercontinent Pangea began breaking
apart during the latter part of the Permian.
The resulting volcanic eruptions had cataclysmic
global impact.
Lava covered the land for thousands of miles.
Volcanic ash and toxic gases filled the Earth's
atmosphere, spawning a global warming.
Acid rain poisoned the water. Marine life
suffocated as oceans lost oxygen.
Of the planet's five mass extinctions, this one,
the Great Dying, was the worst.
Ninety percent of the ocean's species gone.
Seventy percent of terrestrial life disappeared.
Ancient mammals no longer dominated the land.
The way was clear for the Age of Dinosaurs.
G Y M N O S P E R M
The facts of life... birds, bees and the telling
of plant sex. The male plant generates
pollen grains that are distributed by wind
to the flowers of female plants.
Egg and pollen merge, forming an embryo
containing the genetic instructions supplied
by its two parent plants. A new edition of life
is developing within its protective shell.
We have a seed.
S U M I N I A
That looks like fur growing from this animal.
Now it's beginning to look like a mammal.
What about hearing? Terrestrial animals
retain their fish style of hearing. No ears.
Not yet a priority.
The animal above looks like a beginner at tree climbing.
Its claws lack the length needed to dig into bark.
The feet have digits long like fingers but they show
little evidence of having the power to grip.
Balance may be the one climbing characteristic
it has already reasonably accomplished.
It has the teeth of a predator but how capable
is it for hunting prey out on a limb?
* * * * *
OVER EASY
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