Kryptops
Name: Kryptops
(Covered face).
Phonetic: Krip-tops.
Named By: P. C. Sereno & S. L.
Brusatte - 2008.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Saurischia, Theropoda, Abelisauridae.
Species: K. palaios (type).
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Estimated about 6 to 7 meters long.
Known locations: Niger - Elrhaz Formation.
Time period: Aptian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Maxilla and partial post
cranial skeltal remians including ribs, vertebrae and pelvis.
Kryptops
is a little known genus of abelisaurid
theropod dinosaur that lived in
North Africa during the Early Cretaceous. At the time of the original
description in 2008, Kryptops was considered to
be the most
primitive known abelisaurid. Kryptops was
described from a partial
maxilla (main and posterior tooth bearing bone in the upper jaw)
and associated post cranial remains. However, the maxilla was
found approximately fifteen meters away from the post cranial remains,
which has caused others to speculate that Kryptops
may be a fossil
‘chimaera’ with the post cranial fossils belonging to a different
theropod.
The
Kryptops holotype was found in the Elhraz Formation
and another
abelisaurid called Eocarcharia
is known from this Formation. Other
Theropods include Elaphrosaurus
and the spinosaur
Suchomimus.
Possible prey for Kryptops could include the
sauropod Nigersaurus
and
the ornithischians Ouranosaurus
and Lurdusaurus.
Further reading
- Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower
Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger. - Acta Palaeontologica
Polonica 53(1):15-46. - P. C. Sereno & S. L.
Brusatte - 2008.
- The phylogeny of Tetanurae (Dinosauria: Theropoda). -
Matthew T. Carrano, Roger B. J. Benson & Scott D.
Sampson - 2012.
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