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Dinocerata, the so called "terrible horned" (dinocerata means terrible horn) mammals, are an
extinct order of
plant-eating,
rhinoceros-like hoofed creatures famous for their paired horns and
tusk-like canine teeth. The earliest dinoceratan,
Prodinoceras, first appeared in
Asia during the Paleocene, but nearly all later types are from
North America (dinoceratans must have crossed the Bering land bridge, it may have been exposed during the Paleocene-Eocene times). How dinoceratans are related to other mammals is in dispute. They are probably part of the
hoofed mammal (
ungulate) group and have similarities with some
South American hoofed mammals. Another idea is that dinoceratans are closely related to
pantodonts and
tillodonts. A more controversial view is that dinoceratans descend from the
anagalids, a small group of
rabbit-like mammals. But they may be related to an ungulatomorph group called
zhelestidae. Many dinoceratans may be large, but they have one of the smallest
brains of the
mammal class (the smallest brains of the mammal class belongs to
pantodonts), compare that to later
ungulates (hoofed mammals) and other mammals. They lived alongside with another large plant-eaters of the
Eocene, the
brontotheres. The most famous dinoceratan is,
Uintatherium.
[edit] Taxonomy and Phylogeny
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