Fossil remains of Cryptomanis were discovered in Mongolia in 1928 by Roy Chapman Andrews as part of the Central Asiatic Expeditions funded by the American Museum of Natural History. The strata in which they were unearthed is dated to an interval of 46.2 - 38 million years ago. Cryptomanis was lost in storage and never properly identified or prepared until almost 90 years later. Named by T. J. Gaudin, R. J. Emry, and B. Pogue, Cryptomanis means “Hidden Pangolin,” alluding to its years in a forgotten drawer in the American Museum.
My pencil and mixed media drawings of Cryptomanis gobiensis are based on a specimen from the American Museum of Natural History in New York, AMNH 26140, and appeared in the following article: T. J. Gaudin, R. J. Emry, and B. Pogue. 2006. A New Genus and Species of Pangolin (Mammalia, Pholidota) from the Late Eocene of Inner Mongolia, China. [Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 26(1):146-159]. With permission from Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. Scale bars = 1 cm.