The extinction of this predator was a harbinger of catastrophe – and a reminder for us

More than 250 million years ago all hell broke loose on earth. At the time, earthquakes and eruptions shook the supercontinent Pangea, which united all of Earth’s landmasses in rapid succession. The massive volcanic eruptions caused catastrophic climate change at the Permian-Triassic boundary, killing about three-quarters of terrestrial species and 95 percent of all marine life. This greatest mass extinction – at least because there aren’t just unicellular creatures – is called “Great Dying”; it paved the way for dinosaur dominance.

The actual mass extinction, which lasted at least several tens of thousands of years, was preceded by a dramatic struggle for survival by animal species, according to a new study based on fossil finds published in the journal Current Biology. These species had to adapt to a rapidly changing environment. One species whose fate illustrates this volatile situation was an apex predator called Inostrancevia. Apex predators are carnivorous animals that are at the top of the food pyramid and, at least as mature individuals, have no predators of their own.

Inostranceviathe first saber-toothed predator on Earth, was one of the Gorgonopsia, a genus of carnivorous animals that forms a very early branch in the mammalian lineage. All kinds of Gorgonopsia disappeared during the mass extinction. The terrifying saber-toothed carnivore was about the size of a tiger, up to 4.3 meters long, and possibly hairy. Its prey likely included pareiasaurs, but it may not have rejected bait either. Its massive head contained a brain that was probably larger than that of modern reptiles.

Until recently, fossils of this saber-toothed animal had been found only in Russia. But new fossil finds in South Africa’s Karoo Basin suggest so Inostrancevia migrated about 10,000 kilometers south on the supercontinent, where it could take the place of the apex predators there. “We were very surprised to find the fossils of these prehistoric predators,” Pia Viglietti, the study’s lead author and a paleontologist at the Field Museum in Chicago, said in a museum press release. How Inostrancevia was able to cover this long distance and how long it took the saber-toothed animal to do so is unclear.

The fossils from South Africa are not only interesting because of their distance from the previous sites. “When we compared the data from the region’s apex predators to that of the ‘invaders,’ we found something remarkable,” says Viglietti. All of the late Permian large carnivores found in South Africa became extinct long before the Great Dying. So there was a void in the local ecosystem about 250 million years ago that was used for a relatively short time by the Inostrancevia been occupied.”

The fact that Inostrancevia arrived in South Africa and became extinct soon after, shows that the apex predators played the role of a canary in the coal mine – their extinction ushering in the coming ecological catastrophe. “These data give us a better understanding of the most catastrophic mass extinction in Earth’s history,” explained South African researcher Jennifer Botha.

Her colleague Christian Kammerer adds: “There were four different predators that took on the role of apex predator within two million years, just before the mass extinction that separates the Permian from the Triassic. This is unprecedented in the history of life on land. It shows how extreme this crisis was. Even the most basic roles in ecosystems have been extremely unstable.”

This vulnerability to apex predators is evident again today. “Today’s apex predators are very likely endangered as well. They are the first to be affected by human activities such as hunting or habitat destruction. Think of the wolves in Europe or the tigers in Asia. These are species that reproduce slowly and need a large hunting area. These have now largely disappeared,” explains Kammerer. “The extinction of large carnivores over the past few centuries is similar to the fate of prehistoric carnivores in that they were just as vulnerable. They, too, were the first victims when a mass extinction loomed.”

Viglietti also sees a parallel with the present: “It is always good to study the effects of mass extinctions on ecosystems, especially since the end-Permian biodiversity collapse almost paralleled current conditions. We have other comparison material. hardly. The Great Dying is the best example of what we can expect if we don’t get the climate crisis under control. The only difference is that we now know what to do and how to solve it.” (i.e)