Paleontologists have uncovered what may be the oldest known saber-toothed animal to have ever lived – a predator that roamed our planet before the age of the dinosaurs.

In a study published in the journal The nature of communicationa team of researchers describes a previously unknown prehistoric creature that has a vaguely canine appearance, albeit with noticeable differences.

“If you saw this animal walking down the street, it would look a bit like a medium-sized dog, maybe the size of a husky, but it wouldn’t be quite right. It had no fur and it wouldn’t have dog ears,” said study co-author Ken Angielczyk of Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

Among its most distinctive features were a set of very long, blade-like, pointed teeth, which Angielczyk says indicate the animal was an “apex predator” in its day.

A creature that long predates the first true mammals as well as dinosaurs is described based on a fossil specimen found on the Spanish island of Mallorca, located in the Mediterranean Sea.

Remarkably, the fossil appears to date from around 280-270 million years ago – when Mallorca was part of the supercontinent Pangea – making it most likely the oldest known member of a group of extinct animals known as gorgonopsians. They are relatives of prehistoric mammals that lived during the Permian period (about 299-252 million years ago) of Earth’s history.

Modern mammals belong to a larger group of tetrapods (four-legged animals with backbones) called Synapsida. Mammals (known scientifically as Mammalia) are the only living synapsids, having first evolved about 200 million years ago. But there are many extinct groups of so-called non-mammalian synapsids.

“Gorgonopsians are one of these extinct groups of non-mammalian synapsids that lived during the Permian… They were important predators at the time, but they are a minor branch of the synapsid family tree and have no living descendants — ie, they are not direct ancestors of mammals.”

Prior to this study, the oldest known gorgonopsians were thought to have lived about 265 million years ago. But the newly discovered specimen seems to be older this time.

“The most interesting thing about the particular specimen we are describing is its age. As we say in the paper, it is most certainly the oldest known gorgonopsian,” Angielczyk said.

Gorgonops are the first group of tetrapod predators known in the fossil record to have evolved saber-toothed features—ie. very large, blade-like, serrated canines. The Mallorcan specimen may represent the earliest known example of this group – and thus the first saber-toothed animal on our planet – although there is some uncertainty about its age.

“The age uncertainty makes it a little difficult to be absolutely definitive that it’s the oldest saber-toothed animal ever found, because there’s a chance it could be around the same age as the other oldest gorgonops found in the fossil record,” Angielczyk said. “However, assuming the evidence suggesting a higher age is correct, our specimen would be older than the previously oldest known gorgonopsians.”

“There is a large time gap in the therapsids fossil record, between when they are thought to have evolved based on our knowledge of synapsid relationships, and when they actually appear in the fossil record, and the new specimen helps fill some of that gap,” Angielczyk said.

“I don’t think many people realize that there was a time before the age of the dinosaurs when ancient mammal relatives were the dominant animals on land. Our gorgonopsian lived at that time and was one of those ancient mammal relatives.” .”

Researchers have found a surprisingly large number of gorgonopsian skeletal remains during their investigations in Mallorca.

“We found everything from skull fragments, vertebrae and ribs to a very well-preserved femur. In fact, when we started this excavation, we never thought we would find so many remains of this type of animal in Mallorca,” he added. First author of the study Rafel Matamales, curator of the Museu Balear de Ciències Naturals, said in a press release.

Despite this, the specimen was too fragmentary for scientists to determine whether it represented a member of a known Gorgonopian species or whether it represented an entirely new species. As a result, the specimen has not yet received a species name.