Syndyoceras
Syndyoceras is a small extinct genus of Artiodactyla, of the family Protoceratidae, endemic to central North America from the Miocene epoch (24.8—20.6 Ma), existing for approximately . Taxonomy. "Syndyoceras" was named by Barbour (1905). Its type is "Syndyoceras cooki". It was assigned to Protoceratidae by Barbour (1905) and Carroll (1988); and to Kyptoceratini by Webb (1981), Prothero (1998), Webb "et al." (2003) and Prothero and Ludtke (2007). Morphology. The skull decoration of "Syndyoceras" looked quite unlike those of a deer. It had two pairs of horns. The first was a V-shaped pair on the snout, fused at the base . The second pair was placed between the eyes and the ears and was curved inwards, the horns facing towards each other in a semicircular shape. Like giraffe ossicones, these protrusions were covered with skin. They were probably used for display and fighting. In addition to the horns, "Syndyoceras" also possessed tusk-like canine teeth, that it may have used to root through soil and undergrowth for food, in a similar manner to a modern musk deer. The shape of the skull also suggests that it may have had an inflated muzzle, like that of a modern saiga. The , creature closely  resembled a deer, having two hooved toes and reaching a weight over 60 kg. Like early horses, such as "Merychippus", it had two vestigial outer toes on each foot, which did not touch the ground.