AGE:
Late Permian, Zone IV, 245 million years ago

MEANING OF NAME:
Derived from the Dvina River

PRONUNCIATION:
DVEE-knee-a

CLASSIFICATION:
THERAPSIDA: Cynodontia; Family Dviniidae

This small, omnivorous therapsid is clearly advanced in having a temporal opening so large that on only a thin bar of bone remains to separate it from the eye socket. Of all the therapsids on display in this website  it is the one closest to the mammals.