Synthetoceras
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Synthetoceras tricornatus is a large, extinct protoceratid, endemic to North America (Nebraska) during the Late Miocene, 12.5—4.7 Ma, existing for approximately Template:Mya. Fossils have been recovered from Nebraska and Texas.[1]
Description
With a length of Template:Convert and a mass of Template:Convert, 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
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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- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Geist, V. (1966). The Evolution of Horn-Like Organs. Behaviour, 27(1-2), 175–214. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853966x00155