The Forgotten Mammal Empire That Came Before Dinosaurs

[@blandp11]

Excellent. As a lay person I had not realized until recently the "battle" between the two main lineages of amniotes for niche dominance. It is interesting to contemplate that our (mammals) rise is the comeback of a lineage that seemed down and out in the Jurassic and Cretaceous. A long time for our revenge!

[@robertjames8183]

This gives me hope that in the next few million years, likely well after we're long gone, that the neosuchians can make a big comeback in terms of diversity!

[@walker15130]

​@@robertjames8183all we need to do is raise Earth's temperature a few degrees. This is achievable if we set aside our squabbles and work together as a civilization.

[@jonathanbyrd90]

im a top. im a stand person

[@Zebulun-lg7us]

Just you wait the reptiles will rule again

[@razzaus1570]

Baby cannon animals for the win.

[@latheofheaven1017]

The Permian is my favourite geologic period. A complex ecology that existed for nearly 50 million years and saw the rise of our distant ancestors, long before dinosaurs evolved.

[@malleableconcrete]

10:35 quick point, the extinction event you describe in the mid Permian that took out the Dinocephalians wasn't minor, it was actually gigantic, its known as as the Capitanian extinction event and recent research has elevated to one of the worst extinction events in world history. On its own the Capitanian extinction would qualify to be within the "big five" mass extinctions, but its not included because its quickly overshadowed by the End-Permian extinction less than ten million years later.

[@daxbashir6232]

Less than 10 MIL years? But the entire Permian epoch was like 50 MIL years long. So it doesn't sound like "mid-Permian".

[@malleableconcrete]

@@daxbashir6232 The terms used for dividing up geological epochs can be unintuitive, in the Triassic period it gets especially ridiculous, the officially designated "early" and "mid" Triassic are less than 40% of the entire period combined, the "late" Triassic is more than half of the whole thing, which is confusing when its laid out like that. The Permian is a bit like this too, the epoch usually called the mid-Permian is more specifically known as the Guadalupian, it ends with the aforementioned Capitanian extinction event 259.5 million years ago, and the rest of the Permian usually called the late Permian is specially the Lopingian, which ends 251.9 million years ago as the earth enters its worst mass extinction.

[@daxbashir6232]

@@malleableconcrete Hm. So it means that the Gorgonopsids didn't "rule" for very long. :/

[@malleableconcrete]

@@daxbashir6232 No, as the video mentions, the evolved quickly to occupy a gap left by the recently extinct Dinocephalians. The largest Dinocephalians created some of the biggest Synapsid predators known, Anteosaurus is the most famous and might have weighed between 500KG to well over a ton. The largest Gorgonopsids were smaller but more closely resembled living mammals, Inostrancevia was the size of the largest tigers, more than 300 kilos.

[@daxbashir6232]

@@malleableconcrete OK, thanks for this additional info. So they were kind of "second-rate ad-hoc replacements" in a way. :)

[@Littlekoji-df1cf]

Oooh. Background noice of nature is so soothing

[@daxbashir6232]

♥

[@robertjames8183]

Great video, as always, mate!

[@carolynallisee2463]

Oh, how different life on this planet might have looked, but for the Great Dying! Go back about forty or so years ago, and this group of animals really were considered just a bunch of 'also-rans'. I've mentioned on other channels that, as a young girl, I had a book entitled 'Prehistoric Animals'. I suspect it's buried amongst the other stuff in our loft, but it was a favourite book of mine. It covered the rise of land living animals from such creatures as Icthyostega, up to the K-Pg extinction event, which then was still a big mystery, the discovery of the iridium enriched boundary layer still being some years in the future. And yes, the main focus of the book was the dinosaurs, those of the Jurassic and Cretaceous, specifically. Very little was said about the emerging dinosaur groups in the Triassic, though I do know that at the time the book was printed, places like the Coelophysis predator trap of Ghost ranch was known and, if not excavated, was undergoing it. As for the synapsids, the 'stem-mammals', they barely got a look in. I don't even recall there being any mention of Dimetrodon and other Pelycosaurs, though we know now how important to our story they are, being synapsids themselves. As for more derived forms, only two types got a mention; Moschops and a 'cynodont' (not even a specific genus!), and they were included as examples of how 'bizarre' the creatures were. There was absolutely no hint whatsoever that these strange beasts were truly part of our story. I believe this book was meant to be a childrens' book, albeit one meant for older children ( with an illustrations of an Allosaurus biting the neck of a Brontosaurus, it had to be). Even so, the bias was clear, with everything coming before the dinosaurs, and everything living around them, merely bit-players to their main act. I don't even recall there being any mention of mammals evolving during the Mesozoic, not even a mention of them at all, other than the thought that they might have somehow caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. It's lovely to see that we are beginning to realise just how marvellous and interesting synapsids actually are, and the key roles they had in shaping the life on our planet. Many of them might have been small, but they were certainly not 'bit-players' in the history of life on this world!

[@daxbashir6232]

Well, we, Humans, are also Synapsids after all.

[@DarkSoul-gy8tj]

Great video and awesome answer for question. Thank you for all your films!

[@stephenions9155]

Fantastic video as always. Thankyou so much for producing them. I have learnt so much on the subject with your help!

[@subraxas]

👍 ❤

[@subraxas]

In a way, we are "ALL" "reptiles". 'Reptiliomorpha' (meaning "reptile-shaped"; also known as 'Pan-Amniota') which contains all animals past the Lissamphibians. So both Synapsids (including ourselves, Humans) and Sauropsids are Reptiliomorphs.

[@keithfaulkner6319]

Why don't you just call all of us amoebas and be done with it.

[@subraxas]

2:04 - Obviously, a pretty outdated re-construction right there. Like by at least a quarter of a century. The stance is way too sprawling. Even on 'Walking with Monsters' they already got this right and that show is from 2005.

[@Dan-xf4my]

Enjoyed finding out more about these species!😊

[@chrisanderson1-66]

I see a new Dino Gen video, its an instant click.

[@brucefsanders]

Loving the beard ... Makes you look all grown up ‼️

[@daxbashir6232]

Lol!

[@subraxas]

8:47 - I thought that the largest one was even bigger than this; like circa twice the size (meaning 'volume' now).

[@PrehistoricMenagerie]

I do love Inostrancevia!

[@daxbashir6232]

When will you two get married then? :D

[@PrehistoricMenagerie]

@ Nice DS9 reference in your username 😏 Also just realised your profile pic is Dax in ‘Our Man Bashir’ 😜🤣

[@daxbashir6232]

@PrehistoricMenagerie Sh*t!! You've just blown my cover! Have to notify the Agency immediately. Stay where you are! You'll soon get visitors and . . . they will "process" you. 😀

[@PrehistoricMenagerie]

@@daxbashir6232 Are you threatening me with Section 31? I’ll just have to speak to my tailor who may or may not have links to the Obsidian Order…

[@daxbashir6232]

@PrehistoricMenagerie Lol!

[@android65mar]

Nice dino shots at the beginning

[@discobolos4227]

(8:20) Who is the artist behind this painting? It is beautiful! I really like this style; how he or she or they captured the lighting, for example......

[@discobolos4227]

The painting looks older, since the depicted Gorgonopsid is obviously somewhat "outdated" scientifically, but I do not mind; it has its timeless charm.

[@Fede_99]

It's by Emilio López-Rolandi. Putting the name in the video would've been better although thankfully it should be in the list in the description

[@discobolos4227]

@@Fede_99 Thanks for the reply. 👍 ❤

[@daxbashir6232]

@@Fede_99 This style reminds me of Zdenek Burian's works.

[@CoralReaper707]

Honestly, I see the synapsids as the "villain" counterpart to the sauropsids.

[@xanshen9011]

Opposite for me 😊

[@VanessaScrillions]

I have a gorgonopsid plushie, he's right next to me right now 😊

[@subraxas]

💛 🧡 ❤

[@robcanisto8635]

the flow is fierce ❤❤❤❤❤

[@SasiakGnarly]

6:26 "You got games on your phone?"

[@GenghisDon1970]

a bit of quirk re: the question. The far north's collapse is quite recent, and probably climate change driven more than human presence or direct activity such as logging. No consolation to reindeer/caribou, wolverines, polar bears, walrus, moose, musk oxen etc, etc

[@AncientWildTV]

this video is really impressive and the visuals are stunning! i can’t help but wonder though, do you think the idea of mammals dominating before dinosaurs is being overhyped? it's fascinating, but it almost feels like it distracts from the well-known dinosaur era that shaped much of our understanding of evolution.

[@discobolos4227]

It's just a little bit hyperbolic title, intended to better grab one's attention. Don't take it literally. Anyway, in addition this group of animals was still quite far away from being true mammals.

[@daxbashir6232]

Did they also bark like dogs? :)

[@discobolos4227]

Lol!

[@quidproquo82]

Fascinating how the same body plans keep reappearing through out the process of evolution

[@nicknoga564]

No one ever talks about the Anapsids...

[@ChrisGrahamkedzuel]

Poor turtles.

[@jukeman9291]

​@@ChrisGrahamkedzuelthose are diapsids. Their finestras just got covered up with bone.

[@Flufux]

@@ChrisGrahamkedzuel Turtles aren't Anapsids. That was a popular theory a while back but has since been disproven.

[@daxbashir6232]

Anal psids? :D

[@jukeman9291]

Do we know if the Gorgonopids had any kind of hair. Ive read that whiskers only developed by later cynodonts as they became more adapted for burrowing.

[@discobolos4227]

A good question.

[@enderman_666]

huh didn't realize Viatkogorgon had preserved sclerotic rings, wonder when those were lost in mammaliaforms

[@discobolos4227]

Nobody has so far found their fossilized skin impressions? Asking because of the possible "fur thing".

[@erichtomanek4739]

Make Gorgonopsids Great Again !!!

[@tommylatham9868]

Too bad dimetrodon are synapsids, they coulda been dimetrodonald.

[@discobolos4227]

@@tommylatham9868 Huh?! What?! How?! Why?!

[@ChiChiLand299]

North and South America have fewer people than Africa combined and also has a lot of undisturbed lands. Like most of the megafauna that died off in the Americas died off before European colonization usually thousands of years ago most of the stuff that was around when Europeans showed up is still around today. A lot of them have declined like Buffalo and pronghorn antelope but that was more from industrial hunting than habitat destruction. Send by the 1800s when most of them were already gone there was still large areas of undeveloped wilderness. Africa is more the fact that even under colonization and nowadays many of the people still just don't have guns where they can just shoot people. I see so many farmers still trying to scare off elephants with just sticks and banging pots together rather than shooting them because they're not allowed to have guns or can't afford them.

[@discobolos4227]

Word! 👍

[@daxbashir6232]

💛 🧡 ❤

[@Nelson-h4o9n]

First to like

[@Mooseclops-Kenjamin]

K

[@CavacavatheGreat]

Gorgonop s i think it was a Giant rat looking predator with no ears

[@discobolos4227]

Lol!

[@CavacavatheGreat]

@discobolos4227 sol

[@shahshank]

I bet there were super friendly

[@treystephens6166]

I’m not an expert but I’m vaguely familiar with their existence.

[@AKayani559]

Last time I saw you you didn’t have a beard

[@blakespower]

but they werent mammals back then didthey have tiddies?

[@stephenfosterdublin]

You appear to have 2 pairs of eyebrows

[@discobolos4227]

LOL!!!

[@NelsonNewman-u3f]

They were still reptiles....hence mammal like reptiles.

[@discobolos4227]

Not quite!

[@brunobembi5276]

anapsid too

[@salamander554]

How do you get better adapted to human predators. I'm gonna have to say you don't, at least not physically. So your adaptation is too, stay far away from us. Which is what they do all over the world now.

[@subraxas]

"not physically"? Godzilla (and many other daikaijus) managed to sort this out. 🙂

[@Evergerant]

Cheeto monster

[@AKayani559]

I wouldn’t say they weren’t really mammals like many of their reptiliunt features were because reptiles have pretty primitive features and this was during the primitive time so the advanced mammals features weren’t really a thing and hadn’t even evolved so they were basically mammals before many mammal features weren’t really a thing

[@discobolos4227]

0_0 0_0 0_0

[@cristhianfierro912]

You are pretty....and you speak pretty.

[@discobolos4227]

[@jimkirby1799]

These animals were not mammals, they were mammal-like reptiles. We still don't know enough to classify them as true mammals.

[@discobolos4227]

Nobody has asserted up here that they were "true mammals". Have you watched the video at all?

[@brianmaloney9598]

He said "dinural", rather than "diurnal".

[@daxbashir6232]

And what's the difference?

[@dizzydean1000]

Answer to the Mail-in Question!! Tropical ASIA!!!! And, Not Coincidentally, That Region is the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT* to Human Evolution!!! *Non-Desert area, The Middle East is the Desert with the most Megafauna (ie Camels used to live in American deserts as well) one could reasonably expect to find, and is the desert most important to Human Evolution

[@creativeconcerts4511]

Very well written and wonderfully researched video! But why on earth are you editing in video of yourself standing in your grandma's dining room? Just focus on the topic.