Protoceras
{{Short description|Extinct genus of mammals}}
{{Automatic taxobox
|fossil_range = {{Fossil range|Oligocene|Early Miocene}}
|image = Protoceras skeleton.jpg
|image_caption = Protoceras celer skeleton
|taxon = Protoceras
|authority = Marsh, 1891
|type_species = †Protoceras celer
|subdivision_ranks = Species
|subdivision =
- P. celer Marsh 1891
- P. neatodelpha Patton & Taylor 1973
- P. skinneri Patton & Taylor 1973
}}
Protoceras ('first horn') is an extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to North America. It lived from the Oligocene to the Early Miocene 33.3—16.0 Ma, existing for approximately {{Mya|33-16|million years}}.[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=42581 Protoceras at fossilworks]
File:Dinictis_and_Protoceras.jpg and Protoceras by Charles R. Knight]]
Morphology
Protoceras was {{convert|1|m}} long and resembled a deer in terms of body shape. Like some other protoceratids it had three pairs of blunt horns on its skull. In life these were probably covered with skin, much like the ossicones of a giraffe. Protoceras was sexually dimorphic: females only had one pair of horns, on the back of the skull, which was shorter than the same pair in males. Males probably used these horns for display, impressing females, or intimidating rivals. Due to the orientation of the horns the males probably displayed them sideways instead of frontally.{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 272|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}}
Protoceras was one of the earliest and most primitive protoceratids, still possessing upper incisors{{citation needed|date=February 2009}} and four functional toes (later genera had only two functional, hooved toes). It lived in the deserts of the Late Oligocene, alongside the oreodont Leptauchenia.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1819072}}
Category:Oligocene Artiodactyla
Category:Cenozoic mammals of North America
Category:Aquitanian genus extinctions
Category:Rupelian genus first appearances
Category:Taxa named by Othniel Charles Marsh