''Koupia'' is a dubious
extinct
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of non-
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
ian
synapsid
Synapsids + (, 'arch') > () "having a fused arch"; synonymous with ''theropsids'' (Greek, "beast-face") are one of the two major groups of animals that evolved from basal amniotes, the other being the sauropsids, the group that includes reptil ...
. The type species, ''K. koupensis'', was coined by
Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra
Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra (1905 – 1975) was a South African palaeontologist whose work focused on the therapsida, mammal-like reptiles of the Middle ( Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone, ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone) and Late Permian, whose fossil ...
in 1948, with a well-preserved skull from the
''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, SAM-PK-11796, designated the holotype. This specimen has since been lost, and ''K. koupensis'' is currently considered a
nomen dubium or a possible junior synonym of ''
Brachyprosopus broomi''.
References
Dicynodonts
Permian synapsids of Africa
Fossil taxa described in 1948
Taxa named by Lieuwe Dirk Boonstra
Anomodont genera
{{anomodont-stub