Our Weird "Mammal-Reptile" Ancestors

Therapsids dominated Earth before the dinosaurs, emerging \~275 million years ago and thriving through the Permian. Though they looked like reptiles—with scales, sprawling bodies, and toothy jaws—they weren’t reptiles at all. They were synapsids: the lineage that would evolve into mammals. From the tusked Lystrosaurus to the saber-toothed *Inostrancevia*, therapsids developed key mammalian features like differentiated teeth, upright limbs, and possibly fur or whiskers. Some were semi-warm-blooded. After the Permian-Triassic extinction, only a few survived—but one lineage led directly to mammals.

00:00 Intro
1:47 Rise of therapsids
7:37 Life before fall
14:23 The great dying
20:53 Dinosaurs on the rise
26:55 The surprising rise of us
32:37 Not a failure a foundation
35.32 Echoes in us
35:53 Outro

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#Therapsids #Synapsids #PrehistoricLife #MammalEvolution #Permian #Triassic #Fossils #Lystrosaurus #Inostrancevia #ProtoMammals #Gorgonopsids #MassExtinction #WarmBlooded #Paleontology #Evolution