Protoceras

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Protoceras Fossil range: Late Oligocene to Early Miocene
Conservation status
Extinct (fossil)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Protoceratidae Genus: Protoceras Marsh, 1891
Species
P. celer (type) P. neatodelpha P. skinneri

Protoceras ('first horns') is an extinct genus of mammal.

Protoceras was 1 m (3 ft 4 in) long and resembled a deer in terms of body shape. Like other protoceratids it had three pairs of strange, blunt horns on its skull. In life these were probably covered with skin, much like the horns of a giraffe. Protoceras was sexually dimorphic - females only had one pair of horns (the one on the back of the skull), which was shorter than the same pair in males. Males probably used these horns for display, impressing females and/or intimidating rivals. Due to the orientation of the horns the males probably displayed them sideways instead of frontally. Protoceras was one of the earliest and most primitive protoceratids, still possessing upper incisors (these were gone in later genera) and four functional toes (later genera had only two functional, hooved toes).