Kryptohadros

Say it: krip-toh-HAD-ros

Name means: “hidden hadrosauroid”1

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Kryptohadros was a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in what is now Romania. It was a plant-eater and walked on two legs or all fours. Scientists only discovered it in 2026, so it is a very new dinosaur to learn about!1 2

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Hațeg Basin, Transylvania, Romania1 2

Food

Plants3

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

cool stuff

Fun facts

Kryptohadros is a type of hadrosauroid, which means it is a relative of the famous duck-billed dinosaurs like Edmontosaurus.1

Its fossils were found near the village of Vălioara in Romania, at a site called Fântânele-3.2

The skeleton was discovered between 2022 and 2024, and it includes parts of the skull, ribs, tail bones, and a leg.1

Kryptohadros lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.3

Scientists think Kryptohadros belonged to a group called Telmatosauridae, which includes other European duck-billed dinosaurs like Telmatosaurus and Tethyshadros.1 2

The name Kryptohadros means 'hidden hadrosauroid' because it was found close to a known fossil site but remained undiscovered for many years.1

AI-made picture of Kryptohadros — An AI-made picture of how Kryptohadros might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Kryptohadros

?How big was Kryptohadros?

Scientists do not know its exact size yet because only a partial skeleton of a subadult has been found. It was a relatively small duck-billed dinosaur, but no specific length or weight is given in the sources.1 2

?When did Kryptohadros live?

It lived about 72 to 66 million years ago, during the Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous.1 4

?What did Kryptohadros eat?

It was a plant-eater, or herbivore, that likely ate leaves and other plants. It walked on two legs or all fours.1 4

?Is Kryptohadros a dinosaur?

Yes, it is a dinosaur. It is a type of hadrosauroid ornithopod dinosaur.1 4

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For dino experts

Scientific name: Kryptohadros
Named by: Magyar et al. 20264
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Telmatosauridae4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Densuș-Ciula4
Countries: Romania4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Kryptohadros was named by János Magyar and colleagues in 2026. The fossils were collected from the Densuș-Ciula Formation in Romania between 2022 and 2024.1 2
Still debated: Scientists are still debating how Kryptohadros is related to other duck-billed dinosaurs, and whether it was a separate species or part of a larger group.1 2

Where the facts come from

Kryptohadros (en.wikipedia.org)
New early Maastrichtian ‘duck-billed’ dinosaur from Hațeg Basin (Densuș-Ciula Formation, Romania) documents an endemic clade of non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroids in the south-eastern Late Cretaceous European Archipelago: Journal of Systematic Palaeontology: Vol 24 , No 1 - Get Access (tandfonline.com)
PBDB Taxon (paleobiodb.org)
Kryptohadros in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

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