Venyukoviamorpha


Venyukoviamorpha is an extinct superfamily of anomodont therapsids under the superorder Venyukovoidea. While the exact placement of many genera within the basal anomodonts is contentious, it is generally accepted that the Venyukoviamorpha represent a monophyletic clade.
Four genera of small, plant-eating anomodonts make up the Venyukoviamorpha -- Venyukovia, Ulemica, Otsheria, and Suminia. All Venyukoviamorpha remains have been found in western Siberia .
The Venyukoviamorpha were named for Venyukovia. But Venyukovia is known only from lower jaw fragments of a single individual. Ulemia and the poorly preserved Otsheria also lack post-cranial remains.
To date, the only preserved Venyukoviamorpha post-cranial remains are associated with the later Suminia fossil. Suminia is described as a derived venyukovioid and a sister-taxon of Ulemica. A Suminia fossil revealed a long-tailed animal by therapsid standards. The comparatively long limbs and phalanges with opposable 'thumbs' led to the suggestion that Suminia was adapted for grasping tree branches in an arboreal lifestyle.
Compared with other therapsids, the Venyukoviamorpha were distinguished by comparatively long tooth rows with large incisors. The arrangement of teeth was complex and varied greatly among members of the Venyukoviamorpha. Incisors were chisel-shaped or leaf-shaped and serrated. Post-canine teeth could be spatulate, bluntly conical for grinding, or leaf-shaped for shredding. The mixed dentition of Suminia is claimed to represent the first evidence of the efficient processing of food by chewing.
The Venyukoviamorpha lived in environments surrounded by amphibians, pareiasaurs and other reptiles, as well as other therapsids. As an example, small plant-eating Otsheria existed alongside larger therapsid herbivores and therapsid hunters.