Tapinocephalia has been found to consist of three clades: Styracocephalidae, Titanosuchidae, and the very successful Tapinocephalidae.

Notable tapinocephalians include Moschops, Tapinocephalus, and Titanosuchus.

Unlike anteosaurs and estemmenosuchids, tapinocephalians are primarily an African group.

The estemmenosuchids and pareiasaurs may have occupied this paleo-bovine niche in the north.

One such group was Titanosuchidae, which consisted of long-tailed predators that hunted herbivorous therapsids.