Tylocephalonyx (Greek: "knob" (tylos), "head" (kephalos), "claw/hoof" (onyx)[2]) is an extinct chalicothere from the Miocene of North America.
| Tylocephalonyx Temporal range: Miocene, | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Life restoration | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | †Chalicotheriidae |
| Subfamily: | †Schizotheriinae |
| Genus: | †Tylocephalonyx Coombs, 1979 |
| Species: | †T. skinneri |
| Binomial name | |
| †Tylocephalonyx skinneri Coombs, 1979 | |
Description
Tylocephalonyx specimens are notable for a dome-shaped skull, a feature found in some other schizotheriine chalicotheres but most developed in this genus. Adequate fossil material is lacking to tell whether both sexes had domed heads, but sexual dimorphism was common in the group. Tylocephalonyx may have used its "dome" in the same way as the pachycephalosaurs, though there is no clear evidence to link either pachycephalosaurs nor Tylocephalonyx to using their domes to crash together in high-impact head-to-head contests, as in modern bighorn sheep. Such contests require special cranial adaptations to protect the brain and cervical spine, not shown in chalicotheres. The dome of Tylocephalonyx may have been used for visual display or in butting or head-to-body battering contests.[3]
See also
References
Sources
- National Geographic Prehistoric Mammals (National Geographic) by Alan Turner
- After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals (Life of the Past) by Donald R. Prothero
- Classification of Mammals by Malcolm C. McKenna and Susan K. Bell
- Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic Mammals of North America: Biostratigraphy and Geochronology by Michael O. Woodburne
- Colbert's Evolution of the Vertebrates: A History of the Backboned Animals Through Time by Edwin H. Colbert, Michael Morales, and Eli C. Minkoff
- Coombs, Margery C. (1979). "Tylocephalonyx, a new genus of North American dome-skulled chalicotheres (Mammalia, Perissodactyla)". Bulletin of the AMNH. 164 (article 1). American Museum of Natural History: 1–64. hdl:2246/1041.