Open Paleo

Talenkauen

Novas et al., 2004 ta-LEN-ca-wen

From the Aonikenk (Tehuelche) language: 'talenk' meaning 'small' and 'kauen' meaning 'skull', referring to the relatively small skull of the specimen

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

Talenkauen is a genus of ornithopod dinosaur from the Campanian or Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous Cerro Fortaleza Formation, formerly known as the Pari Aike Formation of Patagonian Lake Viedma, in the Austral Basin of Santa Cruz, Argentina. It is based on MPM-10001A, a partial articulated skeleton missing the rear part of the skull, the tail, and the hands. The type and only species is Talenkauen santacrucensis.

Diagnosis

  1. Well-developed epipophysis on cervical vertebra 3
  2. Plate-like uncinate processes on ribs 1-8 of the thorax, dorsoventrally elongate (~180 mm) and thin (~3 mm)

Species

Talenkauen santacrucensis Novas et al., 2004

Type species

Named for Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, where the holotype was discovered.

Holotype
MPM-10001 , Museo Padre Molina, Rio Gallegos
Material
Partially articulated skeleton with rostrum, jaws, teeth, precaudal vertebral column, ribs, pectoral and pelvic girdles, forelimb and hindlimb bones
Horizon
Cerro Fortaleza Formation, Campanian, Late Cretaceous , 83.6–72.2 million years ago
Locality
Los Hornos Hill, Santa Cruz, Argentina

Notable specimens

  • MPM-10001B

    Museo Padre Molina, Rio Gallegos ontogeny

    A neonatal, recently hatched Talenkauen preserved in the holotype matrix; one of very few hatchling ornithopod specimens and the first such from the southern hemisphere. Wear on its 1.7 mm tooth crowns shows it had fed, so it had hatched rather than being an embryo.

    Egerton et al. (2013)

References

  1. Egerton, V. M.; Novas, F. E.; Dodson, P.; Lacovara, K. (2013). The first record of a neonatal ornithopod dinosaur from Gondwana. Gondwana Research 23(1): 268-271. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2012.08.010 egerton2013a
  2. Novas, F. E.; Cambiaso, A. V.; Ambrosio, A. (2004). A new basal iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia. Ameghiniana 41(1): 75-82. novas2004a
  3. Jones, B. (2026). The Princeton Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs: Ornithischians. Princeton University Press.

    Source of the hip height estimate, and the appearance features.

    jones2026a