''Kyptoceras'' was a small extinct

artiodactyl Artiodactyls are placental mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla ( , ). Typically, they are ungulates which bear weight equally on two (an even number) of their five toes (the third and fourth, often in the form of a hoof). The other t ...

ungulate mammal of the family

Protoceratidae Protoceratidae is an extinct family of herbivorous North American artiodactyls (even-toed ungulates) that lived during the Eocene through Pliocene. While early members of the group were hornless, in later members males developed elaborate crani ...

, endemic to southeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

from the

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

Early Pliocene Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican d ...

epoch 23.03—3.6 Ma, existing for approximately .D. R. Prothero and J. A. Ludtke. 2007. Family Protoceratidae. in D. R. Prothero and S. Foss (eds.), The Evolution of Artiodactyls 169-176 The species name, ''amatorum'', comes in honor of all amateur fossil collectors, including Frank Garcia (Ruskin, Florida) the amateur who found it and donated it to the Florida Museum of Natural History.

Taxonomy

''Kyptoceras'' is the last known member of the family. The protoceratids were believed to have been driven to extinction by more advanced grazing herbivores, but in Florida, where there were still relatively large tracts of forest, the protoceratids were able to survive. The genus name comes from its bent horns, in which the two horns above the eyes curved over its head, and the two nasal horns pointed forward.

Fossil distribution

Fossils have been recovered from: *Tiger Bay Mine, Upper Bone Valley Formation,

Polk County, Florida Polk County () is a County (United States), county located in the Central Florida, central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. The county population was 725,046, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, and estimated to be 818,330, as ...

*Lee Creek Mine,

Yorktown Formation The Yorktown Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in the Coastal Plain of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. It is overconsolidated and highly fossiliferous. Description The Yorktown is composed largely of overconsolidated san ...

Beaufort County, North Carolina Beaufort County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 44,652. Its county seat is Washington, North Carolina, Washington. The co ...

References

Protoceratids Pliocene Artiodactyla Zanclean extinctions Pliocene mammals of North America Fossil taxa described in 1981 Monotypic prehistoric Artiodactyla genera {{Paleo-artiodactyl-stub