''Criocephalosaurus'' is an extinct genus of

tapinocephalia The Tapinocephalia are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids and the major herbivorous group. Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae. No ...

therapsid Therapsida is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals, their ancestors and relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more ...

s which existed in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. It was originally named ''Criocephalus'', but the name was preoccupied by a beetle genus. There are two named species, ''C. vanderbyli'' and ''C. gunyankaensis'': the range of the latter may have been farther north than that of ''C. vanderbyli''. Boonstra (1963) considers this taxon the most specialized of the moschopines.

Description

These animals were in length and in mass. ''Criocephalosaurus'' is known from at least half a dozen skulls are now known. The intertemporal region is very broad and the cranial roof greatly thickened by pachyostosis.

References

External links

Tapinocephalidae
at Kheper Tapinocephalians Prehistoric therapsid genera Guadalupian synapsids of Africa Fossil taxa described in 2002 {{Paleo-Therapsid-stub