AGE:
Late Permian, Zone IV, 245 million years ago

SIZE:
The size of a large tiger, skull 45 cm long

MEANING OF NAME:
Named in honour of A. Inostrantzev, a Russian geologist

PRONUNCIATION:
In-os-tran-SEA-vee-a

CLASSIFICATION:
THERAPSIDA: Theriodonta; Gorgonopidae

Represented by a skeleton of a large satire-toothed theriodont reptile. The gracile nature of the skeleton of this animal and its development of many kinds of teeth marks it as an advanced carnivorous mammal-like reptile, a therapsid.

By this stage of evolution of mammal-like reptiles, the limbs are tucked more nearly under the body as in living mammals. This is in contrast to more primitive reptiles that have the upper part of the limbs projecting outward, rather than downward, thus in sprawling stance, eg. the Zone II Titanophoneus potens from Ishevo.