Kryptohadros, new hadrosauroid from Late Cretaceous of Romania

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

A new paper:

Kryptohadros kallaiae gen. et sp. nov.

János Magyar, Attila Ősi, Zoltán Csiki-Sava, Soma Budai & Gábor Botfalvai (2026)
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 24(1): 2607800
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2607800
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2607800

https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0FED9CF0-2EEB-49E0-825D-0EF2530A3E8F

We report the discovery of an associated incomplete hadrosauroid skeleton with cranial and postcranial elements from a new Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) vertebrate site (Fântânele-3) north-west of Vălioara village in the westernmost part of the Hațeg Basin (Transylvania, Romania), from continental deposits of the Densuș-Ciula Formation. This hadrosauroid material is described here as a new taxon, Kryptohadros kallaiae gen. et sp. nov., based on one autapomorphic character of the dentary, two local autapomorphies of the surangular, as well as a unique combination of characters. It represents the second non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid known from the Hațeg region besides Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a historical taxon for which we also provide a revised diagnosis and an updated list of securely referred specimens. The identification of Kryptohadros shows that basal hadrosauroids were more diverse during the latest Cretaceous in this area than previously thought. Furthermore, our phylogenetic analyses reveal particularly close relationships between all currently known Late Cretaceous south-eastern European hadrosauroids (Telmatosaurus, Tethyshadros and Kryptohadros) that belong to a newly recognized small endemic clade, Telmatosauridae. In addition, these analyses identify several different hadrosauroid evolutionary lineages present within the Late Cretaceous European Archipelago, and suggest that at least six other dispersal events took place between the Albian and the Maastrichtian from Asia towards North America and/or Europe, besides the arrival of the ancestors of Telmatosauridae before the Campanian. The absence of certain later-arriving European hadrosauroid lineages from the faunas of the south-eastern European islands supports earlier hypotheses that propose a direct migration route during the latest Cretaceous between Asia and the south-western European islands, circumventing south-eastern Europe.

https://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:0FED9CF0-2EEB-49E0-825D-0EF2530A3E8F

Kryptohadros kallaiae gen. et sp. nov.

János Magyar, Attila Ősi, Zoltán Csiki-Sava, Soma Budai & Gábor Botfalvai (2026)
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 24(1): 2607800
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14772019.2025.2607800
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2025.2607800

We report the discovery of an associated incomplete hadrosauroid skeleton with cranial and postcranial elements from a new Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) vertebrate site (Fântânele-3) north-west of Vălioara village in the westernmost part of the Hațeg Basin (Transylvania, Romania), from continental deposits of the Densuș-Ciula Formation. This hadrosauroid material is described here as a new taxon, Kryptohadros kallaiae gen. et sp. nov., based on one autapomorphic character of the dentary, two local autapomorphies of the surangular, as well as a unique combination of characters. It represents the second non-hadrosaurid hadrosauroid known from the Hațeg region besides Telmatosaurus transsylvanicus, a historical taxon for which we also provide a revised diagnosis and an updated list of securely referred specimens. The identification of Kryptohadros shows that basal hadrosauroids were more diverse during the latest Cretaceous in this area than previously thought. Furthermore, our phylogenetic analyses reveal particularly close relationships between all currently known Late Cretaceous south-eastern European hadrosauroids (Telmatosaurus, Tethyshadros and Kryptohadros) that belong to a newly recognized small endemic clade, Telmatosauridae. In addition, these analyses identify several different hadrosauroid evolutionary lineages present within the Late Cretaceous European Archipelago, and suggest that at least six other dispersal events took place between the Albian and the Maastrichtian from Asia towards North America and/or Europe, besides the arrival of the ancestors of Telmatosauridae before the Campanian. The absence of certain later-arriving European hadrosauroid lineages from the faunas of the south-eastern European islands supports earlier hypotheses that propose a direct migration route during the latest Cretaceous between Asia and the south-western European islands, circumventing south-eastern Europe.

[Indy Storvick]

Would love a PDF of this one if anyone has it!

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