Moschops
| Moschops | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 1920s photograph of the mounted M. capensis skeleton AMNH 5552, on display at the American Museum of Natural History | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Clade: | Therapsida |
| Suborder: | †Dinocephalia |
| Family: | †Tapinocephalidae |
| Subtribe: | †Moschopina |
| Genus: | †Moschops Broom, 1911 |
| Type species | |
| †Moschops capensis Broom, 1911 | |
| Species | |
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| Synonyms | |
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Moschops (Greek for "calf face") is an extinct genus of dinocephalian therapsids that lived in what is now South Africa during the Capitanian stage of the Middle Permian around 264.4–260 million years ago. Fossils have been found in the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone of the Abrahamskraal Formation. Like other members of Tapinocephalidae, they were heavily built herbivores reaching a body mass of at least 400 kilograms (880 lb), and it has been debated whether or not they were semi-aquatic, like hippopotamuses. They had short, thick heads and are widely thought to have engaged in head-butting contests against rival individuals of the same species.