Kryptops

Taxobox
name = "Kryptops"

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image_width = 275px
fossil_range=Early Cretaceous
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Sauropsida
superordo = Dinosauria
ordo = Saurischia
subordo = Theropoda
familia = Abelisauridae
genus = "Kryptops"
genus_authority= Sereno & Brusatte, 2008
subdivision_ranks=Species
subdivision=
*"K. palaios" Sereno & Brusatte, 2008 (type)

"Kryptops" (meaning "covered face", in reference to evidence that the face bore a tightly-adhering covering) is an extinct 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 Paul Sereno and Stephen Brusatte in 2008, with a single species to date: the type species "K. palaios" ("old").cite journal |last=Sereno |first=Paul C. |authorlink=Paul Sereno |coauthors=and Brusatte, Stephen L. |year=2008 |title=Basal abelisaurid and carcharodontosaurid theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Elrhaz Formation of Niger |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=15–46 |url=http://www.app.pan.pl/acta53/app53-015.pdf |format=pdf]

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 to 7 meters long (20 to 23 ft). 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.

References