Kryptops is a genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. It is known from a partial skeleton found at the Gadoufaoua locality in the western Ténéré Desert, in rocks of the Aptian–Albian-age Elrhaz Formation. This dinosaur was described by paleontologists Paul Sereno and Stephen Brusatte in 2008. The genus name means "covered face", in reference to evidence that the face bore a tightly adhering covering. The type species is K. palaios, which means "old".
| Kryptops Temporal range: Early Cretaceous,
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Skeletal diagram showing the holotype maxilla of the upper jaw in place; the postcrania is based on remains that cannot be confidently attributed to the animal, possibly belonging to an allosauroid. | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Genus: | †Kryptops Sereno & Brusatte, 2008 |
| Type species | |
| †Kryptops palaios Sereno & Brusatte, 2008
| |
Discovery
edit
The holotype skeleton, MNN GAD1, includes a maxilla (main tooth-bearing bone of the upper jaw), vertebrae, ribs, and articulated pelvic girdle and sacrum, belonging to an adult about 6–7 m (19.7–23.0 ft).[1] According to the describers, this specimen represents one of the earliest-known abelisaurids, and is notable for the heavily textured surface of the maxilla; the presence of pits and impressions of blood vessels indicates that there was a covering firmly attached to the face, perhaps of keratin. Sereno and Brusatte performed a cladistic analysis that found Kryptops to be the most basal abelisaurid. This was based on several features, including a maxilla textured externally by impressed vascular grooves and a narrow antorbital fossa, that clearly place Kryptops palaios within Abelisauridae as its oldest-known member.[1] Matthew Carrano et al. (2012), on the other hand, considered Kryptops palaios to be a chimera, and state that its postcranial remains (especially a pelvis and sacrum), found some 15 metres from the holotypic maxilla, actually belong to a carcharodontosaurid (possibly to Eocarcharia dinops).[2] Andrea Cau (2024) suggested that the referred postcranial material may belong to the family Metriacanthosauridae.[3]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Sereno, Paul C.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2008). "Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (1): 15–46. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0102.
- ^ Carrano, Matthew T.; Benson, Roger B. J.; Sampson, Scott D. (2012). "The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 10 (2): 211–300. Bibcode:2012JSPal..10..211C. doi:10.1080/14772019.2011.630927. S2CID 85354215.
- ^ Cau, A. (2024). "A Unified Framework for Predatory Dinosaur Macroevolution". Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana. 63 (1). doi:10.4435/BSPI.2024.08. Supplementary Material
