Tapinocephalia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The tapinocephalians are one of the major groups of dinocephalian therapsids. Unlike anteosaurs and estemmenosuchids, tapinocephalians are mainly from Africa and only one species is found in the north - Ulemosaurus from Russia. The tapinocephalians are divided into three clades, Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the Tapinocephalidae. Notable tapinocephalians include Moschops, Tapinocephalus, and Titanosuchus.
Earlier tapinocephalians were carnivorous to omnivorous. One such group of carnivorous/omnivorous tapinocephalians are the Titanosuchidae. These were long-tailed predators that hunted other herbivorous therapsids. Later tapinocephalians were herbivorous.
Tapinocephalians were hard-headed and might have used their thick skulls for head-butting. Some had horns, some did not.
