Synthetoceras tricornatus is a large, extinct protoceratid, endemic to North America ( Nebraska ) during the Late Miocene, 10.3—5.3 Ma, existing for approximately 5 million years. Fossils have been recovered from Nebraska and Texas.[1]
With a length of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a mass of 150–200 kg (330–440 lb), 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]
^ abPalmer, D., ed. (1999). The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals. London: Marshall Editions. p. 273. ISBN1-84028-152-9.
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.
