Synthetoceras

Synthetoceras tricornatus is a large, extinct protoceratid, endemic to North America ( Nebraska ) during the Late Miocene, 10.3—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 5 million years. Fossils have been recovered from Nebraska and Texas.[1]

Synthetoceras
Temporal range: Late Miocene (Hemphillian)
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Skull of S. tricoronatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: †Protoceratidae
Genus: †Synthetoceras
Stirton, 1932
Type species
†Synthetoceras tricornatus
Stirton, 1932
Species
  • S. tricornatus
  • S. davisorum Hulbert & Whitmore 2006

Description
Life restoration of S. tricoronatus

With a length of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a mass of 150–200 kg (330–440 lb), Synthetoceras was the largest member of its family.[2][3] It was also the last, and had what is considered to be the protoceratids' strangest set of horns.[4] The two horns above its eyes looked fairly normal and similar to those of many modern horned mammals, but on its snout it had a bizarre, long horn with a forked tip that gave it a Y-shape. Only males had this strange horn, and they probably used it in territorial fights.[2]

References
  1. "Synthetoceras tricornatus". fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  2. Palmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 273. ISBN 1-84028-152-9.
  3. Janis, C. M., Theodor, J. M., & Boisvert, B. (2002). Locomotor evolution in camels revisited: a quantitative analysis of pedal anatomy and the acquisition of the pacing gait. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 22(1), 110–121.
  4. Geist, V. (1966). The Evolution of Horn-Like Organs. Behaviour, 27(1-2), 175–214. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853966x00155

Further reading
  • R. C. Hulbert and F. C. Whitmore. 2006. Late Miocene mammals from the Mauvilla Local Fauna, Alabama. Bulletin of the Florida Museum of Natural History 46(1):1-28
  • Prothero D.R., 1998. Protoceratidae. pp. 431–438 in C.M. Janis, K.M. Scott, and L.L. Jacobs (eds.) Evolution of Tertiary Mammals of North America Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.


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