On the up

Last week there was some excitement about this little fellow, Suminia getmanovi.

First some background. This creature lived around 260 million years ago and is from the synapsid group - particularly relevant for us because mammals are thought to have evolved from here. The synapsids are one of the three great groups that make up the class Reptilia and are defined by a hole in the temple area of the skull.

A small graveyard of these animals was discovered in Russia containing over a dozen individuals. The most striking revelations were features that make it likely that Suminia was arboreal – it climbed trees. As such it is the earliest example of a vertebrate that could climb.

One of the key developments surrounds the 1st digit (thumb). The ability to cling on to something like a branch requires the thumb to be flexible enough to be opposable to the other fingers. Suminia has this together with longer limbs and potentially a prehensile tail.

The paper is here.