Cryptovenator (Crypto, from Greek kryptos (hidden, secret); venator, from Latin (hunter)) is an extinct genus of sphenacodontid pelycosaurs which existed in Germany during the latest Carboniferous (late Gzhelian age, 300 Ma ± 2.4 Ma). It is known from the holotype LFN−PW 2008/5599−LS, an anterior right mandible fragment, recovered from a dark, fine grained sandstone of the middle . It was first named by Jörg Fröbisch, Rainer R. Schoch, Johannes Müller, Thomas Schindler and Dieter Schweiss in 2011 and the type species is Cryptovenator hirschbergeri.