Kryptops

Kryptops Temporal range: Early Cretaceous (Aptian to Albian), 115–110 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Holotype maxilla (upper jaw bone) of Kryptops
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Dinosauria
Clade:	Saurischia
Clade:	Theropoda
Family:	†Abelisauridae
Genus:	†Kryptops Sereno & Brusatte, 2008
Species:	†K. palaios
Binomial name
†Kryptops palaios Sereno & Brusatte, 2008

Kryptops (meaning "covered face") is an extinct genus of abelisaurid theropod dinosaurs from the Early Cretaceous of Niger. It is known from a partial maxilla (upper jaw bone) found at the Gadoufaoua locality in the western Ténéré Desert, in rocks of the Aptian–Albian-age Elrhaz Formation. The fossils were collected in 2000 by a University of Chicago expedition to Niger led by American paleontologist Paul Sereno. They were then described in 2008 by Sereno and Steve Brusatte. The genus contains a single species, Kryptops palaios. Sereno and Brusatte referred several postcranial remains to Kryptops, but later studies have shown that these elements belong to an allosauroid theropod, leaving Kryptops to be only known from the incomplete maxilla.

Kryptops is one of the oldest known members of the Abelisauridae, making it vital to understanding this family's evolution. Its length is estimated to be around 6–7 m (19.7–23.0 ft), making it smaller than later genera such as Carnotaurus. Nevertheless, Kryptops is a large, carnivorous dinosaur with highly serrated teeth (bearing many denticles) and robust upper jaws. The outer surface of its maxilla features deep striations, grooves, and rugosities, indicating it was covered in a tightly adhering integumentary structure like keratin.