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Gonkoken

Say it: GON-ko-ken

Name means: “similar to a wild duck or swan”1 2

Ate: PlantsBeaked plant-eatersLate Cretaceous

Gonkoken was a small duck-billed dinosaur that lived in what is now southern Chile, near Antarctica. It was about as long as a car and used its hundreds of teeth to chew tough plants. This dinosaur is special because it is not a true hadrosaurid, but a more ancient cousin that survived until the very end of the dinosaur age.2 4

Lived

72 to 66 million years ago4

Late Cretaceous

Fossils found in

Magallanes Region, Chilean Patagonia (Loma Koken, Río de las Chinas Valley)2 4

Food

Plants2 4

Length

4 m2

estimate

Weight

up to 1 tonnes3

estimate

Top speed

about 33 km/h (21 mph)

Running, estimate

When did it live?

Triassic

Jurassic

Cretaceous

252 million years ago20114566, the asteroid

How big was it?

How long was it?

How heavy was it?

as heavy as 33 big dogs

as long as 4 dogs nose to tailas long as 22 bananas end to endas heavy as 200 watermelons

How big was Gonkoken compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast was it?

A person walking about 5 km/h (3 mph)

A kid on a bike about 22 km/h (14 mph)

Gonkoken about 33 km/h (21 mph)

A galloping horse about 65 km/h (40 mph)

A cheetah about 100 km/h (62 mph)

cool stuff

Fun facts

Gonkoken is a 'transitional' duckbill, meaning it is closely related to true hadrosaurids but not one itself. Its ancestors came from North America and arrived in South America earlier than the more advanced duckbills.2

The name Gonkoken comes from the Aónik’enk language, spoken by the indigenous people of the region. 'Gon' means 'similar to' and 'koken' means 'wild duck or swan'.2 1

Fossils of Gonkoken were found in a bonebed containing at least three individuals. The site is still being excavated and may hold many more bones.2

Gonkoken lived about 71.7 to 70.5 million years ago, during the early Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. This was just a few million years before the asteroid impact that ended the age of dinosaurs.2

Unlike true hadrosaurids, Gonkoken had fewer than 30 tooth positions in its lower jaw, and its tooth rows did not extend beyond the coronoid process.2

Gonkoken is the first duck-billed dinosaur described from a subantarctic region. Its discovery suggests that some alleged hadrosaurid fossils from Antarctica might actually belong to non-hadrosaurid duckbills like Gonkoken.2

AI-made picture of Gonkoken — An AI-made picture of how Gonkoken might have looked, made by a computer from what scientists know. It is a guess: the real animal may have looked different, and nobody knows its true colours.

you asked

Most asked questions about Gonkoken

?How big was Gonkoken?

Gonkoken was a small duck-billed dinosaur, about 4 metres (13 feet) long. That is roughly the length of a small car.1 2

?When did Gonkoken live?

Gonkoken lived about 71.7 to 70.5 million years ago, during the early Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous. That was just a few million years before the asteroid hit.1 2

?Where was Gonkoken found?

Gonkoken fossils were found in the Río de las Chinas Valley in southern Chile, near the tip of South America. It's the first duck-billed dinosaur described from a subantarctic region.1 2

?Is Gonkoken a hadrosaurid?

No, Gonkoken is not a true hadrosaurid. It is a 'transitional' duckbill, meaning it is closely related to hadrosaurids but belongs to a more ancient group.1 2

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Myth buster

Myth: All duck-billed dinosaurs are hadrosaurids (true duckbills).

Truth: Gonkoken is a duck-billed dinosaur but not a hadrosaurid. It belongs to a more ancient lineage that survived alongside true duckbills in the far south.2

For dino experts

Scientific name: Gonkoken
Named by: Alarcón-Muñoz et al. 20234
Group: Beaked plant-eaters
Family / clade: Hadrosauroidea4
Classification: Ornithischia > Ornithopoda > Iguanodontia4
Age of the rocks: 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)4
Rock formations: Dorotea4
Countries: Chile4
Fossil records: 1 in the Paleobiology Database4
Discovery: Gonkoken was named in 2023 by Alarcón-Muñoz and colleagues. The first bones were found by Mario 'Nano' Ulloa in the Río de las Chinas Valley, and excavations began in 2013, uncovering many disarticulated remains.2 4
Still debated: Scientists debate whether all alleged hadrosaurid fossils from Antarctica and subantarctic regions actually belong to non-hadrosaurid duckbills like Gonkoken, rather than true hadrosaurids.2

Where the facts come from

Gonkoken (en.wikipedia.org)
Relict duck-billed dinosaurs survived into the last age of the dinosaurs in subantarctic Chile (science.org)
Scientists discover duck-billed dinosaur roamed Chile 72 million years ago | Reuters (reuters.com)
Gonkoken in The Paleobiology Database (CC BY 4.0): age, places, rock formations, classification.

Every fact on this page has a number that points to its source. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are dino fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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