Synthetoceras is an extinct genus of large Protoceratidae that was endemic to North America during the Late Miocene (12.5-4.7 Annum), existing for approximately 7.8 million years. Fossils have been recovered from Nebraska and Texas.
Description
With a length of and a mass of ,
Synthetoceras was the largest member of its family.
[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.] It was also the last, and had what is considered to be the protoceratids'
/ref> 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.
Further reading
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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
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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.
