''Keratocephalus'' ("horned head") is an extinct

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

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 from the early

Capitanian In the geologic timescale, the Capitanian is an age or stage of the Permian. It is also the uppermost or latest of three subdivisions of the Guadalupian Epoch or Series. The Capitanian lasted between and million years ago. It was preceded by ...

age of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It was found in the Lower and Middle ''Tapinocephalus'' Assemblage Zone of the Karoo deposits, in the Lower Beaufort Beds in Beaufort West

Description

It was long, with long skull and had a mass of with a variable snout length, variable

pachyostosis Pachyostosis is a non-pathological condition in vertebrate animals in which the bones experience a thickening, generally caused by extra layers of lamellar bone. It often occurs together with bone densification (osteosclerosis), reducing inner ca ...

with a nasofrontal boss raised into a horn-like shape.

Classification

''Keratocephalus moloch'', known from a number of greatly variable skulls, along with postcrania, from the Lower and Middle Tapinocephalus zone, shows considerable variability in the pachyostotic development. It may be not as derived as ''Tapinocephalus''. The naso-frontal boss is raised into a sort of horn (hence the name - "horned head") and the length of the snout varies greatly. This in itself throws doubt on ''Boonstras distinction between short and long-snouted forms. ''Pelosuchus'', known only on the basis of postcranial features, is a synonym.

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''Tapinocephalidae''
at Paleos Tapinocephalians Prehistoric therapsid genera Guadalupian synapsids Guadalupian synapsids of Africa Fossil taxa described in 1931 Taxa named by Friedrich von Huene Capitanian genus first appearances Capitanian genus extinctions {{paleo-therapsid-stub

Description

Classification

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