extinct genus of therapsids, relatives of mammals, found as fossils in Permian rocks of South Africa (the Permian Period occurred from 299 million to 251 million years ago). The genus Tapinocephalus is representative of the Tapinocephaloidea, characterized by many herbivorous specializations. A large and bulky animal, Tapinocephalus also is characteristic of a distinctive assemblage of lowland animals that are useful as a horizon marker for a part of the middle Permian in South Africa known as the Tapinocephalus zone.