Suminia
Suminia is an extinct genus of basal anomodont that lived during the Tatarian age of the late Permian, spanning approximately from 268-252 Ma. Suminia is recognized the youngest non-dicynodont anomodont. Its fossil localities are primarily derived from the Kotel’nich locality of the Kirov Oblast in Russia. However, there have been some isolated specimen found in a few different localities, all from eastern European regions of Russia.
| Suminia Temporal range: Late Permian, | |
|---|---|
| Fossil skeleton, Royal Ontario Museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Anomodontia |
| Genus: | †Suminia Ivachnenko, 1994 |
| Species: | †S. getmanovi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Suminia getmanovi Ivachnenko, 1994 | |
Suminia, along with Otsheria and Ulemica make up the monophyletic group of Russian basal anomodonts named Venyukovioidea. These Venyukovioid anomodonts are understood to have been derived from an ancestor that dispersed from Gondwana into Euramerica. Suminia getmanovi is the only defined species within the genus and it is known for specializations in teeth for effective, functional oral processing of plant material as well as being one of the first species with a proposed arboreal lifestyle.