Image: An artist's rendering of an edaphosaurus
A diorama of the Permian seafloor
A swimming nautilus
Paleontologists with a reptile fossil
Image: An artist's depiction of lystrosaurs
Fossilized Dinogorgon skull
Dogbane leaf beetle on a black-eyed susan
Ginkgo biloba leaves
Butterloch Canyon, Italy
Guadalupe Mountains, Texas
Trilobite fossil.
Permian Basin, Texas
1 of 12
Edaphosaurus
A sail-backed edaphosaurus forages amid a Permian landscape in this artist's depiction. These primitive predators, along with their close relatives the dimetrodons, though dinosaur-like in appearance, are actually considered the forerunners of mammals. Scientists think their large back fins were used to regulate body temperature.
Artwork by Interfoto Pressebildagentur/Alamy

Permian Period

See photos and illustrations of the plants and animals of the Permian period from National Geographic.

Go Further