therapsids are a really cool and pretty significant group of animals that are very often overlooked
they were the dominant land animals from the mid-Permian all the way until the dawn of the dinosaurs
they include our direct ancestors; the therapsid group gave rise to the first mammals about 200 million years ago
they represent the link between reptiles and mammals, they’re right in the middle, and that’s remarkably interesting to me
(pictured: restoration of Gorgonops whaitsii by restoration artist Dimitri Bogdanov[top]; illustration by paleontologist and illustrator Carl Buell [bottom])
Griffin. Griiiiiiiffin. Griffin, it’s another dinosaur, LOOK!