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During the Permian period, the Earth bore witness to the rise and diversification of Synapsids. From the many sail-backed creatures like Dimetrodon and Edaphosarus to the fanged Gorgonpsians, there was no shortage of intriguing lifeforms that existed at this time.
However, during the Premian-Triassic extinction event, the current title holder of world's most devastating mass extinction, almost every Synapsid species was wiped out. In fact, it's only thanks to the early Cynodonts' small bodies and generalist lifestyle that Mammals like us even exist.
But the unassuming Cynodonts weren't the only Synapsids who survived the appropriately named Great Dying. Anomodonts and Therocephalians also managed to make it to the Triassic period, but eventually got outcompeted by the rise of the Dinosauria clade. Despite this, the Mammals aren't the only remaining members of the Synapsid clade.
During the mid Permian, a suborder of Therapsids, known as Dinocephalia, became incredibly successful and filled in a menagerie of ecological niches. Whether it be large herbivores, ferocious predators, or generalist omnivores, these creatures dominated the Earth for 10 million years.
Unfortunately for them, when the Capitanian mass extinction hit during the late mid Permian, almost all members of the Dinocephalia suborder died out. However, not only did one family manage to survive the extinction that wiped out their relatives, its members continued to cheat death, despite the odds regularly being against them. These seemingly unkillable creatures are the Dinosagónia.
While the body plans of most modern Synapsids, Mammals and Neotherapsids are drastically different from those of their ancestors, the Dinosagónias still retain silhouettes that are similar to those of other Dinocephalia species.
But there is one undeniable difference between modern Dinosagónias and their ancestors: their jaws. Although ancient Dinosagónias already had noticeably larger and more muscular jaws than other Dinocephalia families, their descendents would eventually evolve truly massive maws. And none have bigger mouths than Vráchotrógon fotiérimos.
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Translated from Greek, Vráchotrógon fotiérimos roughly means rock eater of the fire desert, a fitting name considering that these animals, commonly called Dodogamas by the public, live in the Afar triangle of Ethiopia.
Although capable of sustaining life, the Afar triangle is a hard place to live in. The area is a desert scrubland, and beside of the Awash River, very few permanent sources of fresh water exist as most of them evaporate and become salt lakes. However, the biggest challenge to life in the region comes from the tectonic plates that are beneath their feet. The Afar depression is in a unique position. With the Arabian plate to its north, Nubian at its west and Somalian in the east, the area is currently being torn apart. This is creating small but frequent earthquakes, and causes the area's many volcanoes to become active.
When putting all of these factors together, it should go without saying that to survive here, animals have to be tough and adaptable. And luckily for the Dodogamas, they have all the tools needed to live in such a hostile environment. Despite their somewhat comedic appearance, everything about the Dodogamas is specifically made for life in the Afar triangle.
