Open Paleo

Kol

Turner et al., 2009 khol

From Mongolian хөл/köl meaning 'foot'.

83.6–72.2 million years ago Campanian, Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous stages

Kol is an extinct genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. The type and only species is Kol ghuva. The type specimen was excavated from the Ukhaa Tolgod locality of the Djadokhta Formation, dating to about 75 million years ago. It is believed to have been about twice the size of the contemporaneous Shuvuuia. However, unlike Shuvuuia, which is known from many well preserved specimens, and although Ukhaa Tolgod has been thoroughly explored, Kol is known only from one complete foot, suggesting that it must have been relatively rare in that ecosystem.

Under dispute

Kol ghuva was described as a large alvarezsaurid on the basis of its extreme arctometatarsalian foot (Turner and colleagues, 2009), and Cau and colleagues (2017) recover it among the alvarezsauroids. Agnolín and colleagues (2012) found it more reminiscent of oviraptorosaurs, Hartman and colleagues (2019) recover it as a relative of Avimimus, and Averianov and Lopatin (2021) exclude it from Alvarezsauridae. The holotype is a single articulated foot.

Diagnosis

  1. Extensor grooves on digit IV phalanges
  2. Robust flexor tubercle on pedal unguals
  3. MT III does not reach ankle; terminates in distal 1/3 of MT II
  4. Accessory dorsomedial flange absent on medial side of distal MT II
  5. MT II shorter than MT IV
  6. MT III extends higher proximally (>1/3 metatarsus length), more proximal than other alvarezsaurids

Species

Kol ghuva Turner et al., 2009

Type species

From Mongolian 'ghuva' meaning 'beautiful', complementing the generic name 'kol' meaning 'foot' in Mongolian.

Holotype
IGM 100/2011 , Paleontological Center, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Material
One complete foot
Horizon
Bayn Dzak Member, Djadokhta Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Ankylosaur Flats, Ukhaa Tolgod, Ömnögovi, Mongolia

References

  1. Turner, A. H.; Nesbitt, S. J.; Norell, M. A. (2009). A Large Alvarezsaurid from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 3648: 1-14. American Museum of Natural History (BioOne sponsored). doi:10.1206/639.1

    Named Kol as an alvarezsaurid, without a phylogenetic analysis.

    turner2009a
  2. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Theropods. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the body length, mass, and hip height estimates, and the appearance features.

    jones2026c
  3. Cau, A.; Beyrand, V.; Voeten, D. F. A. E.; Fernandez, V.; Tafforeau, P.; Stein, K.; Barsbold, R.; Tsogtbaatar, K.; Currie, P. J.; Godefroit, P. (2017). Synchrotron scanning reveals amphibious ecomorphology in a new clade of bird-like dinosaurs. Nature 552(7685): 395-399. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. doi:10.1038/nature24679

    Recovered Kol among the alvarezsauroids.

    cau2017a
  4. Agnolín, F. L.; Powell, J. E.; Novas, F. E.; Kundrát, M. (2012). New alvarezsaurid (Dinosauria, Theropoda) from uppermost Cretaceous of north-western Patagonia with associated eggs. Cretaceous Research 35: 33-56. Elsevier BV. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.11.014

    Found Kol more reminiscent of oviraptorosaurs than alvarezsaurids.

    agnolín2012a
  5. Hartman, S.; Mortimer, M.; Wahl, W. R.; Lomax, D. R.; Lippincott, J.; Lovelace, D. M. (2019). A new paravian dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America supports a late acquisition of avian flight. PeerJ 7: e7247. PeerJ. doi:10.7717/peerj.7247

    Recovered Kol as a relative of Avimimus; one step places it in Alvarezsauridae.

    hartman2019a
  6. Averianov, A. O.; Lopatin, A. V. (2021). A re-appraisal of Parvicursor remotus from the Late Cretaceous of Mongolia: implications for the phylogeny and taxonomy of alvarezsaurid theropod dinosaurs. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology 19(16): 1097-1128. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.2013965

    Excludes Kol from Alvarezsauridae.

    averianov2021d