#gorgonopsidae

More attacks

Blossom by Lu33ci

Stygian by Arcaneguardians

I know my followers are going to hate me so much rn because my fic is on hiatus and they see a damn prehistoric creature come up.

I promise you, I need to break off from the fic temporarily until I can collect my thoughts because my creativity is at a halt lately, and dinosaurs and paleoart will bring me back.

Anyway, here is a late permian predator. A Gorgonopsidae named Inostrancevia Alexandri. I tried to get the proportions as best as I could. I was mixed on doing my usual fave of shrink wrap skin or healthy muscle and fur. The speculations lean towards fur(or hair) so I pulled that out. And holy shit I struggled so bad with the hands(claws?) And fur. I can't draw fur digitally because of having to close every line connection. Like fffff how do ppl do it?!

(no common name available)

LONGEVITY: About 6 million years

DISTRIBUTION: Isolated (European Russia only)

NOTABLE ATTRIBUTES:

Huge size makes it resistant to damage and very intimidating

Jaw morphology suggests high bite force, something not characteristic of sabertoothed predators

Double-edged serrations on all teeth, including canines and incisors

Tooth regeneration

Large, sturdy skull capable of withstanding high stress

WEAKNESSES

Lower speed and maneuverability due to semi-sprawling stance

Poor stamina due to lower metabolism than true mammals

Low intelligence

Only has one reliable weapon (jaws), as its limbs were not strong or flexible enough to be used in climbing or combat

Inostrancevia was an absolute powerhouse of an animal, and at 11ft long, one of its species may have been the largest sabertoothed carnivore ever. At first glance, inostrancevia is an easy high tier, but when one takes a closer look some glaring inadequacies become apparent. While its impressively long lifespan and ecological dominance as an apex predator certainly seem impressive, it’s important to understand the environment in which this animal existed. The better adapted true mammals had not evolved yet, meaning that inostrancevia faced little genuine competition in its niche. So, while it was the undisputed S tier of its time, when taken out of context and put up against the later high efficiency and high intelligence pack hunters of this list, it’s clear that inostrancevia is lacking in some serious regards. Its low mobility and poor endurance would have made it an inefficient and unsuccessful predator in the age of mammals, and its low intelligence would have assured that it could not innovate its way out of this position. One could say it’s unfair to compare a stem mammal to the objectively better true mammal build, but that’s what we’re here to do, and aside from its massive size and damage output inostrancevia lacks the powerful abilities and basic efficiency that would constitute a high placement in such a competitive bracket.

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