This Dinosaur Had the Claws of a Raptor but Hunted Like a Heron
Researchers say the 70-million-year-old raptor relative had heronlike neck and snout features, and fish fossils found with it support a wading diet.
- Paleontologists recently identified a new raptor species, Kank australis, from fossils found at La Anita farm in Argentina's Santa Cruz Province, as published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
- The dinosaur lived roughly 70 million years ago in an environment of winding rivers and seasonal ponds, where Dr. Matías Motta of the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum explains Kank likely hunted fish using strategies similar to modern herons.
- Adult Kank individuals reached lengths of 2.5 to 3 meters, and Dr. Motta notes the species differs from other raptors by having teeth with sharp longitudinal ridges and pneumatic cervical vertebrae with internal air chambers.
- This discovery helps bridge a distributional gap between northern Patagonia and Antarctica, and findings indicate that unenlagiids were widely distributed across South America during the Late Cretaceous.
- The genus name honors a figure from Aonikenk mythology, referring to a giant rhea whose steps formed the Southern Cross constellation, while researchers plan to continue excavations in the Chorrillo Formation.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Paleontologists have discovered a new species of giant dinosaur in Argentine Patagonia that could change our understanding of sauropod evolution. The newly described species, Bicharracosaurus dionidei, combines features from several known lineages of long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs and could be the first known brachiosaurid from the Jurassic period in South America, scientists say.
This Dinosaur Had the Claws of a Raptor but Hunted Like a Heron
Scientists have uncovered a fish-hunting raptor from Patagonia that may have stalked prey like a giant prehistoric heron. A newly identified dinosaur from Patagonia is giving scientists fresh insight into how some raptor relatives lived during the final chapter of the age of dinosaurs. The species, named Kank australis, appears to have spent much of [...]
Notable finding: Argentine and Japanese researchers confirmed the discovery of a new species of dinosaur raptor in El Calafate, Santa Cruz. After analyzing its remains, it is believed that this predator who lived approximately 66 million years ago and was baptized as Kank australis The news had an impact on the international scientific community since it is not “another dinosaur” anymore. Specialists suspect that it could provide key clues on ho…
Researchers have identified a new species of dinosaur, called Kank australis, that inhabited Patagonia approximately 70 million years ago. This dinosaur, belonging to the Unenlagiidae group, exhibits characteristics that suggest hunting behavior similar to that of herons, challenging the traditional view of raptors as terrestrial predators. Identification of Kank australis: Kank australis was identified from fossil remains that include teeth, ve…
70 million years ago, where today the steppes and mountains of Santa Cruz extend, there was a completely different landscape. There were not the Andes as they are known today and the territory was crossed by rivers, lagoons and abundant vegetation that housed an extraordinary diversity of animals. In that world lived...
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