Gorgonopsid are supporting antagonists in series 1 of Primeval. They are a large species of the group of synapsids and was known for being a deadly and effective hunter. It existed in the late Permian period.
Biography[]
A gorgonopsid first happears in 1998 chasing Helen Cutter in a parking lot where it attacked her, throwing cars at her during its pursuit, then ran back into the forest after her.
Eight years later, the Gorgonopsid was present in the Forest of Dean, which it treated and guarded as its territory; presumably, it had either returned to the present through the Forest of Dean Anomaly, or it had remained in the Forest since it first came through eight years earlier. The Gorgonopsid killed a cow to eat and stored it in a tree, and went on to attack a truckload of poultry.
When a young boy named Ben, Abby Maitland and a Coelurosauravus called Rex entered the Forest of Dean, the Gorgonopsid stalked them. Only by keeping quiet and staying still did Abby and Rex manage to evade the Gorgonopsid. As dusk fell, the Gorgonopsid was drawn out from the forest to Ben's house by the smell of blood from a cut on his finger. The creature smashed through Ben's bedroom window and frantically tried to reach him, causing considerable damage to the room. Ben fended it off by hurling several items at it, eventually driving it off for good by smashing a plasma globe against its head.
The next day, the Gorgonopsid wandered into Ben's school, where it was spotted by Ben as he was doing detention with his teacher in a classroom. Stalking through the corridors of the school, the Gorgonopsid's attention was briefly caught by an artwork resembling itself on the wall before the sounds of Ben and his teacher arguing drew it towards the classroom. Hearing it stomping down the corridor, the teacher opened the door and screamed in horror at the sight of it. The Gorgonopsid then began ramming its head into the door as Ben and the teacher tried to barricade it, but Stephen Hart arrived and drew the creature's attention, and lured it away from the classroom. The Gorgonopsid chased Stephen through the school and cornered him at a fire exit, where it rammed him against the door and burst outside and left whilst Stephen was left unconscious.
The following night, after Nick Cutter's expedition into the now-closed Anomaly, the Gorgonopsid attacked the Home Office team at the former Anomaly site and caused chaos, until Stephen briefly knocked the creature out by driving a truck straight into it. As the Gorgonopsid began to recover, Stephen brought the creature back down by shooting it down with a machine gun, and the creature then collapsed and apparently died of its injuries.
The same Gorgonopsid is seen later in the series when Tom Ryan and his men, as well as Nick and Helen Cutter, were attacked in the Permian by a Future Predator, the Gorgonopsid (younger and unscarred) arrived at their campsite as the Predator attacked, and the Gorgonopsid briefly stunned the adult Predator and then proceeded to devour the Future Predator young. The adult Future Predator quickly recovered, and viciously fought with the Gorgonopsid. The Predator managed to rip one of Gorgonopsid's eyes out and badly slash its neck. However, the Gorgonopsid ultimately managed to kill the Predator by trapping its arm in its jaws before flipping up and onto its back, fatally crushing the Predator beneath its bulk. The Gorgonopsid then roared loudly to proclaim its victory before limping away with its kill.
Apperance[]
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.
A lethal marriage between speed and power, Gorgonopsids were strong enough to hurl cars several feet into or through the air and break down doors with little effort, though they were required to build up momentum in order to do so most effectively, as well as durable enough to survive being rammed head-on by a Toyota Hilux pick-up truck, though leaving it stunned for a few seconds. Their tough, leathery hide enabled them to endure several rounds of gunfire and even the vicious claws of a Future Predator.
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 Villains
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Primeval Primeval: New World
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