Tapinocephalus
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Tapinocephalus atherstonei |
Tapinocephalus is a genus of large herbivorous dinocephalian reptiles that lived during the Middle Permian Period. These stocky, barrel-bodied animals were characterised by a massive bony skull roof and short weak snout. It is thought that, like the rest of the members of its family, the animals engaged in head-butting intraspecific behavior, possibly for territory or mates.
The fossil remains (skull and postcranial elements) of Tapinocephalus are known from the Lower, Middle, and Upper part of the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone ( Capitanian age) of the Lower Beaufort Beds of the South African Karoo. Only the type species, T. atherstonei is now considered valid for this genus.
In life, these animals were over 3 meters in length and weighed around 1.5 to 2 metric tonnes, making them among the largest animals of their time.
Keratocephalus and Moschops are closely related, contemporary forms, of similar size and habits.
[edit] References
- Boonstra, L.D. 1956, "The skull of Tapinocephalus and its near relatives" Annals of the South African Museum, 43 Part 3 pp. 137-169, 17 figs, plate 4.
- ----- 1969. The fauna of the Tapinocephalus Zone (Beaufort beds of the Karoo). Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 56:1–73.
- King, Gillian M., 1988 "Anomodontia" Part 17 C, Encyclopedia of Paleoherpetology, Gutsav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart and New York.
[edit] External link
- Tapinocephalia - Tapinocephalus - Palaeos
