Suminia - The Permian Monkey Look-alikes

Описание: The primate body plan is one that is both highly adaptable and versatile, and today, and throughout the fossil record, has been incredibly successful, with humans being a result of said diversification. It’s interesting to note then that said body plan, like practically all in nature, is not an entirely unique one. One example from far before our time, back in the Permian period, shows just how diverse life once was, and that patterns of evolution and adaptation often than not converge when environmental conditions are met.

Arboreal vertebrates today, animals that spend a great deal of time in trees, are a prime component of terrestrial environments, with several distinct lineages of reptiles, including birds, and several lineages of synapsids, including mammals, have repeatedly filled in these niches. Arboreal niches are significant, not only in regards to access to unique food resources but also allow for protection against large ground-dwelling predators which are generally not able to reach said animals.

One fascinating example comes in the form of a peculiar animal known as Suminia, a vaguely monkey-like animal described in 1994 that was a Synapsid aka a stem mammal that falls outside the crown group of what we know as Mammalia, and is more specifically an anomodont a group of animals that as will be discussed, are quite peculiar.
I hope you enjoy.

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Sources:
https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk...
https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/service...
https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1111/j....
https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1098/rs...
https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1111/j....
https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1002/je...
https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/a...
https://www.nature.com/articles/35079567
https://www.wired.com/2009/07/suminia...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suminia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synapsid

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