Phorcys.

About Phorcys

Phorcys is an extinct genus of gorgonopsian that lived during the middle Permian period (Guadalupian) of what is now South Africa. It is known from two specimens, both portions from the back of the skull, that were described and named in 2022 as a new genus and species P. dubei by Christian Kammerer and Bruce Rubidge. Phorcys was recovered from the lowest strata of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (AZ) of the Beaufort Group, making it one of the oldest known gorgonopsians in the fossil record—after the fragmentary remains of an indeterminate specimen from the older underlying Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone and an indeterminate gorgonopsian from the Spanish island of Mallorca, western Mediterranean. The generic name is from Phorcys of Greek mythology, the father of the Gorgons from which the gorgonopsians are named after, and refers to its status as one of the oldest representatives of the group.