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Tapinocephalus atherstonei skull
Skull of Tapinocephalus atherstonei in overhead and lateral views (after Smith and Keyser 1995, fig.12a).
Tapinocephalus ("humble head") was a therapsid from the Middle to Late Permian period, and the type genus for the Tapinocephalus Zone, the thickest biozone of the Beaufort Group in the Karoo Basin of South Africa. This dates from the Capitanien stage of the Permian (265.8 -261.2 mya).
Tapinocephalus is part of the Dinocephalian "terrible head" suborder of therapsids, and the type genus of the Tapinocephalidae family. Members of this family are also known in Russia, and probably had an even wider distribution in the Middle Permian, before becoming extinct at the end of the Capitanian stage.
Primarily herbivores, the Tapinocephalidae were among the largest animals of their age, weighing up to 3,000 - 4,500 lbs., with large, rounded midsections, as is typical for plant-eaters. Tapinocephalus atherstonei (Rubridge 1995), the only known species of the genus, was a large herbivore up to three meters long, and weighed an estimated 3,300-4.400 lbs. Their skulls are characterized by massive frontal bones in the skull roof, and short snouts.
The short, high skulls of the Tapinocephalidae contrast significantly with the long, primitive skulls of the contemporary carnivores Anteosauridae and Titanosuchidae. Their teeth have chisel edges, and (also in contrast to the previous two carnivore families) lack the specialized canines of carnivores. Their relatively short, sturdy forelegs extended outwards, while the longer hind legs were placed directly under the hips (similar to that of the Late Permian dicynodonts). Based on comparisons with some modern herbivores, they could stand bipedally and eat vegetation directly from lower tree branches.
References:
Rubridge, B.S. (ed.) 1995. Biostratigraphy of the Beaufort Group. South African Commission on Stratigraphy, Biostratigraphic Series 1, pp.1-45.
Smith, R.H.M. and Keyser, A.W. 1995. Biostratigraphy of the Tropidostoma Assemblage Zone. Geological Survey of South Africa, South African Committee for Stratigraphy, Biostratigraphic Series, 1:18-22.
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