In Depth
Njalila is a genus of gorgonopsid therapsid that lived in Africa during the mid Triassic. Njalila is not known by many fossils, but we can observe that the genus had relatively short jaws but also narrow skull proportions. It is quite probable that Njalila was a niche predator, perhaps mostly hunting smaller animals.
Living in the early part of what is known as the Mid Triassic, Njalila was one of the last gorgonopsids genera to exist, with most others appearing only in the Permian. This is mostly because the end of the Permian is marked by the largest extinction event that we know to ever affect the planet wiping out most of the established animal life. As the Triassic went on, larger archosaurs became the top predators, until eventually they themselves were replaced by the early Dinosaurs.
Further Reading
- Die Theriodontier des ostafrikanischen Ruhuhu-Gebietes in der T�binger Sammlung. - Neues Jahrbuch f�r Geologie und Pal�ontologie 92: 47–136. - F. von Huene - 1950. - Phylogeny and evolution of the Gorgonopsia with a special reference to the skull and skeleton of GPIT/RE/7113 (‘Aelurognathus?’ parringtoni) [Ph.D. thesis]. - T�bingen: Eberhard-Karls Universit�t T�bingen. pp. 1–316. E. V. I. Gebauer - 2007.
