Open Paleo

Kank

Motta et al., 2026 kank

From Kank, the elder Rhea in Aonikenk (Tehuelche) mythology who created the constellation Choiols (the Southern Cross), referring to the taxon's southern Patagonian provenance.

72.2–66.0 million years ago Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Kank is an extinct genus of unenlagiid paravian dinosaur known from the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian age) Chorrillo Formation of southwestern Patagonia, Argentina. The genus contains a single species, Kank australis, known from fragmentary remains.

Under dispute

Kank is known only from a cervicodorsal vertebra with referred teeth and pedal phalanges, and was identified as a member of the unenlagiine clade by apomorphic characters (Motta and colleagues, 2026), who treat that clade as the family Unenlagiidae under Paraves rather than within Dromaeosauridae. It is placed in Unenlagiinae; the clade-level position debate is set out under Unenlagiinae.

Diagnosis

  1. Cervicodorsal vertebra bearing three small pneumatic foramina on its ventral surface within the carotid groove
  2. Cervicodorsal vertebra with a deep, wide 'epipophyseal fossa' between the postzygapophysis and the epipophysis in posterior view
  3. Dentary teeth with a crenulate mesial carina restricted to the apical third of the crown, with irregular, gently crenulate, non-individualized denticles
  4. Pedal phalanx II-2 with dorsoventrally depressed distal condyles near half the height of the proximal articular surface, and collateral pits positioned very close to the anterodorsal corner of the condyles

Species

Kank australis Motta et al., 2026

Type species

From Latin 'australis' meaning 'southern', referring to the southern latitude of the type locality.

Holotype
MPM-PV-23106-A , Museo Padre Molina, Rio Gallegos
Material
Cervicodorsal vertebra (CV10).
Horizon
Chorrillo Formation, Maastrichtian, Late Cretaceous , 72.2–66.0 million years ago
Locality
Monotreme site, Santa Cruz, Argentina

References

  1. Motta, M. J.; Aranciaga Rolando, A. M.; Rozadilla, S.; Agnolín, F. L.; Brissón Egli, F.; Álvarez Herrera, G. P.; Chimento, N. R.; Lo Coco, G.; Tsuihiji, T.; Manabe, M.; Pol, D.; Novas, F. E. (2026). New unenlagiid from the Chorrillo Formation (Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian), SW Patagonia, Argentina. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi:10.1080/02724634.2026.2656456 motta2026a