In Depth
Today Cryptosaurus is considered to be a genus of ankylosaur, though because it is only known by a partial femur the genus is considered dubious because it would be almost impossible to assign further remains to the genus.
When first described by Harry Govier Seeley, Cryptosaurus was thought to have been a relative of Iguanodon, and later Friedrich von Huene thought it was a slightly different kind of ornithopod, and assigned it to the camptosauridae. Richard Lydekker also created the name Cryptodraco for the bone in 1889, but since this was unnecessary it is now treated as a synonym to Cryptosaurus.
Further Reading
- Index to the Fossil Remains of Aves, Ornithosauria, and Reptilia from the Secondary System of Strata, arranged in the Woodwardian Museum of the University of Cambridge, Harry Govier Seeley - 1869. - On the Femur of Cryptosaurus eumerus, Seeley, a Dinosaur from the Oxford Clay of Great Grandshen, Harry Govier Seeley - 1875. - Armored dinosaurs (Ornithischia: Ankylosauria) from the Middle and Upper Jurassic of Europe, Peter M. Galton - 1983.
