Keratocephalus ("horned head") is an extinct genus of tapinocephalian therapsids from the early Capitanian age of South Africa.
Distribution It was found in the Lower and Middle Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Karoo deposits, in the Lower Beaufort Beds in Beaufort West
Description
It was long, with long skull and had a mass of with a variable snout length, variable pachyostosis with a nasofrontal boss raised into a horn-like shape.
Classification Keratocephalus moloch, known from a number of greatly variable skulls, along with postcrania, from the Lower and Middle Tapinocephalus zone, shows considerable variability in the pachyostotic development. It may be not as derived as Tapinocephalus. The naso-frontal boss is raised into a sort of horn (hence the name - "horned head") and the length of the snout varies greatly. This in itself throws doubt on Boonstra's distinction between short and long-snouted forms. Pelosuchus, known only on the basis of postcranial features, is a synonym of this genus. Neumann (2020), however, considers Keratocephalus a junior synonym of Struthiocephalus.
Sources
Further reading Huene, F. von., 1931. Beitrag zur Kenntnis der Fauna der sudafrikanischen Karrooformation: Geologische und Palaeontologische Abhandlungen, v. 18, p. 159-227.
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