Gorgonopsians are the first group of tetrapod predators we know of in the fossil record to evolve saber-tooth characteristics—i.e., very large, blade-like, serrated canines. The Mallorca ...

Called gorgonopsians, the earliest animals in this lineage have long been missing from the fossil record. But the discovery of a newly identified gorgonopsian — the oldest saber-toothed animal ...