Tapinocephalus
Tapinocephalus is an extinct genus of large herbivorous dinocephalians that lived during the Middle Permian Period in what is now South Africa. Only the type species, Tapinocephalus atherstonei is now considered valid for this genus.
Discovery and naming
Fossils of Tapinocephalus atherstonei were collected and donated to the British Museum by William Guybon Atherstone. They were described by Richard Owen, who described and named the species in 1876. He initially considered it a close relative of Pareiasaurus and classified both as members of Dinosauria. Based on the only remains of the skull known at the time—a poorly-preserved partial snout—he believed it had a low, broad skull similar to labyrinthodonts. Owen accordingly named it Tapinocephalus, from Greek ταπεινός "low, depressed" and κεφαλή "head".Description
[Image:Tapinocephalus.jpg|thumb|left|Tapinocephalus atherstonei shoulder girdle and front limb, specimen 5611.]These stocky, barrel-bodied animals were characterised by a massive bony skull roof and short weak snout. It is thought that, like other tapinocephalians, they engaged in intraspecific head-butting, possibly to compete for territory or mates.
In life, they were over in length and massed around, making them among the largest animals of their time.
Tapinocephalus atherstonei is known from a number of skulls and postcranial bones. The skull is large with a heavily pachyostotic skull roof, a massive bony frontals and a short weak Moschops-like snout.