| Tapinocephalidae Temporal range: Middle Permian to Late Permian |
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|---|---|
| Tapinocaninus pamelae head. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Subphylum: | Vertebrata |
| Class: | Synapsida |
| Order: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Dinocephalia |
| Infraorder: | †Tapinocephalia |
| Family: | †Tapinocephalidae |
| Genera | |
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See "Taxonomy" |
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Tapinocephalidae is an advanced family of tapinocephalians. They were all herbivores. They were giants of their time, weighing from 500 to 1000 kg and possibly over 1 or 2 tonnes in weight. They are known from South Africa and Russia. The tapinocephalid skull is very thick, probably used for head-butting, probably for mating or territory, and they were dome-shaped. The thick, dome-shaped skull is reminiscent of the pachycephalosaurian dinosaurs. They probably lived in swamps or dry uplands (deserts), or in wetlands. The last tapinocephalid went extinct by the Late Permian, possibly because of reduced vegetation in the drying, hot world, or due to the causes of the Permian-Triassic extinction event.