| Koleken Temporal range: Late Cretaceous | |
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| Artist's illustration (Gabriel Díaz Yantén) of Koleken inakayali | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Superorder: | Dinosauria |
| Order: | Saurischia |
| Suborder: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Tribe: | †Carnotaurini |
| Genus: | †Koleken Bonaparte, 1985 |
| Species: | †K. inakayali |
| Binomial name | |
| †Koleken inakayali Pol et al, 2024 | |
Koleken ("Coming from Clay and Water") is an abelisaurid theropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia. The type and only species is named K. inakayali.
Description[]
Skeletal of Koleken. Shaded areas in green is the holotype specimen found
The holotype specimen has remains of the skull, along with an atlas. The postcranial parts of the specimen include: A nearly complete pelvis, nearly complete hind limbs, the eight most posterior dorsal vertebrae, a complete sacrum, and eight caudal vertebrae. By paleontological standards, this is quite complete and gives a large enough understanding of the animal. The holotype specimen is a juvenile that is at least 6 years old, based on the lack of fusion in some of the bones such as the skull.
Unlike its close relative, Carnotaurus, Koleken differs in morphology of the skull, legs, and vertebrae along with size. It lacks the notable horns of its more famous counterpart, and was considerably smaller.
Classification[]
Koleken is classified as a member of the family Abelisauridae, further classified into the subfamily Carnotaurinae and the tribe Carnotaurini. The closest relative to Koleken in the fossil record are Niebla of the Rio Negro province, Aucasaurus of the Anacleto formation, and Carnotaurus (the type genus of the subfamily and tribe) which lives in the same formation as Koleken.
Paleoecology[]
Koleken lived in the Maastrichtian La Colonia Formation with its relative, Carnotaurus, in what appears to be an estuarine environment. These two abelisaurids would function as the top predators in their ecosystem. Other species found in the formation to live alongside Koleken include the titanosaur Titanomachya and the plesiosaurs Sulcusuchus, Kawanectes, and Chubutinectes. An as of yet unnamed enantiornithine bird has also been discovered in this formation to live alongside Koleken.
Gallery[]
