Scientists have found fossils of a saber-toothed predator, from which all mammals are descended (photo)

These predators were quadrupedal, somewhat reptilian, about the size of a medium-sized dog.

Scientists have discovered the fossil remains of a 280-million-year-old predator from which all mammals are descended. This ancient animal, which does not yet have a species name, is a member of an evolutionary group known as the Gorgonops, an extinct group of saber-toothed therapsids.

This is reported by Mail Online.

The carnivores found were quadrupeds, somewhat similar to reptiles, which eventually gave rise to mammals about 200 million years ago.

“Gorgonops are more closely related to mammals than to any other living animal. Although they are not our direct ancestors, they are related to species that were our direct ancestors,” said co-author of the study, a paleobiologist at the Field Museum in Chicago Ken Angielczyk.

The fossils found include fragments of skull, vertebrae and ribs and well…