Tapinocephalians
Tapinocephalians are an extinct group of therapsids within the larger clade Dinocephalia, dating to the Middle and Late Permian. Fossils are primarily from the Karoo Basin of southern Africa, though related forms have been reported in other regions. They represent some of the earliest large-bodied therapsids and occupied ecological roles that followed earlier pelycosaurs, contributing to Permian terrestrial ecosystems.
Anatomically, many tapinocephalians exhibit pachyostotic, or thickened, skulls, a feature that gave rise to their name
Ecologically, they occupied low-browsing to grazing niches in Permian environments. The thick skulls found in many
Dispersed mainly in the Karoo, tapinocephalians are an important source of information about early therapsid evolution