Synthetoceras

Taxobox
name = "Synthetoceras"
fossil_range = Late Miocene

---

regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Mammalia
ordo = Artiodactyla
familia = †Protoceratidae
genus = †"Synthetoceras"
species = †"S. tricornatus"
binomial = †"Synthetoceras tricornatus"
binomial_authority = Stirton, 1932

"Synthetoceras tricornatus" is an extinct species of mammal from the Miocene of North America (Prothero, 1988).

With a length of 2 m (6 ft 8 in), "Synthetoceras" was the largest member of its family. It was also the last, and had what is considered to be the protoceratids' strangest set of horns. The two horns above its eyes looked fairly normal and similar to those of 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.

References

*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.