Kakuru
Named for Kakuru, a rainbow serpent figure from Aboriginal Australian mythology, reflecting the opalescent preservation of the fossil.
Early Cretaceous stages
Kakuru is a dubious genus of theropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Australia.
Under dispute
Kakuru kujani is a nomen dubium based on a single tibia; it has been linked to coelurosaurs or abelisauroids but lacks diagnostic characters (Barrett and colleagues, 2010).
Species
Kakuru kujani Molnar & Pledge, 1980 Nomen dubium
Type species
Named for the Kuyani people of South Australia, honoring the Aboriginal community in whose territory the fossil was found.
- Holotype
- SAMA P17926 , South Australian Museum
- Material
- Incomplete right tibia; distal segment preserves astragalar facet that is high and attenuate, not broad enough to extend across entire anterior tibial face, medially bounded by marked anterior ridge running from medial malleolus
- Horizon
- Bulldog Shale Formation, Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 121.4–113.2 million years ago
- Locality
- Andamooka opal field, South Australia, Australia
References
- Molnar, R. E.; Pledge, N. S. (1980). A new theropod dinosaur from South Australia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 4(4): 281-287. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/03115518008558972 molnar1980a
-
Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.
Source of the body length estimate.
jones2026c -
Barrett, P. M.; Kear, B. P.; Benson, R. B. J. (2010). Opalized archosaur remains from the Bulldog Shale (Aptian: Lower Cretaceous) of South Australia. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology 34(3): 293-301. doi:10.1080/03115511003664440
Regarded Kakuru as a nomen dubium lacking diagnostic characters.
barrett2010b