Gorgonopsid

This Gorgonopsid species had a large, compact, four-legged body with a large head and snout, and it possessed mammalian specialisations; including differentiated (heterodont) tooth shape, a fully developed temporal fenestra, pillar-like rear legs, and ear bones.

Gorgonopsids were patient and implacable hunters, which could gallop at a top speed of 50 km/h (30 mph) and had a strong sense of smell. Once a Gorgonopsid smelled blood from its prey, it would relentlessly track and pursue its prey at all costs. After hunting down and killing their prey, Gorgonopsids sometimes stored it in trees to eat later, in a manner which mirrored behaviour displayed by modern-day leopards.