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Dinocerata, the so called "terrible horned" (dinocerata means terrible horn) mammals, are an extinct order of plant-eating, rhinoceros-like hoofed creatures famous for their paired horns and tusk-like canine teeth. The earliest dinoceratan, Prodinoceras, first appeared in Asia during the Paleocene, but nearly all later types are from North America (dinoceratans must have crossed the Bering land bridge, it may have been exposed during the Paleocene-Eocene times). How dinoceratans are related to other mammals is in dispute. They are probably part of the hoofed mammal (ungulate) group and have similarities with some South American hoofed mammals. Another idea is that dinoceratans are closely related to pantodonts and tillodonts. A more controversial view is that dinoceratans descend from the anagalids, a small group of rabbit-like mammals. But they may be related to an ungulatomorph group called zhelestidae. Many dinoceratans may be large, but they have one of the smallest brains of the mammal class (the smallest brains of the mammal class belongs to pantodonts), compare that to later ungulates (hoofed mammals) and other mammals. They lived alongside with another large plant-eaters of the Eocene, the brontotheres. The most famous dinoceratan is, Uintatherium.
A member of
Dinocerata,
Gobiatherium.
[edit] Taxonomy and Phylogeny
