Tapinocephalus ("low, depressed head") is an extinct genus of large herbivorous dinocephalians that lived during the Middle Permian Period in what is now South Africa.

Fossils of Tapinocephalus atherstonii were collected and donated to the British Museum by William Guybon Atherstone.

Owen accordingly named it Tapinocephalus, from Greek ταπεινός "low, depressed" and κεφαλή "head".

[1] These stocky, barrel-bodied animals were characterised by a massive bony skull roof and short weak snout.

In life, they were over 3 metres (10 ft) in length and massed around 1.5 to 2 tonnes (3,300 to 4,400 lb), making them among the largest animals of their time.