The postcanines are similar to the later chiniquodontids, but the secondary palate is quite short in comparison, and the genus lacks the angulation of the ventral cranial margin seen in chiniquodontids. Lumkuia can be seen as more derived than other contemporary cynodonts such as Cynognathus with the crowns of its teeth high and narrow and having inwardly curving tops. The genus was named in 2001 on the basis of the holotype specimen BP/1/2669, which can now be found at the Bernard Price Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa.