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Day 15: A dinosaur that needs more love. Kryptops palaios was found in the same rocks as Eocarcharia dinops (see day one), and consequently also came from Niger, c. 110 million years ago. A (probably) carnivorous theropod, it was roughly the height of a tall man. Very few fossils are known for Kryptops, with what there is making it possible to project the shape, and make a few educated guesses about diet and lifestyle. It's not especially glamorous, but there it was, nonetheless, strutting about West Africa in the early Cretaceous. Hopefully some more of it will be found some day.
The name means "old covered face", because the single specimen currently known appears to have had some sort of face covering, possibly of keratin. This might have served the same purpose as a vulture's bald head (easier to keep clean than feathers when you're sticking your head into entrails - although it's also been suggested that it might play a role in thermoregulation), or it may have been something to do with display. It's also been suggested that it might be some sort of mutation or chimera, and that Kryptops might actually be another Eocarcharia. Given the tremendous unlikelihood of a: being decently fossilised, and b: your fossil surviving 110 million years in order to be found, it's seems unlikely that a chance mutation would make it into the fossil record; but of course, it's by no means impossible.
The name means "old covered face", because the single specimen currently known appears to have had some sort of face covering, possibly of keratin. This might have served the same purpose as a vulture's bald head (easier to keep clean than feathers when you're sticking your head into entrails - although it's also been suggested that it might play a role in thermoregulation), or it may have been something to do with display. It's also been suggested that it might be some sort of mutation or chimera, and that Kryptops might actually be another Eocarcharia. Given the tremendous unlikelihood of a: being decently fossilised, and b: your fossil surviving 110 million years in order to be found, it's seems unlikely that a chance mutation would make it into the fossil record; but of course, it's by no means impossible.
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