Kank
Kank was a fish-eating dinosaur that lived like a modern heron. It waded in rivers and streams in southern Patagonia, using its long neck to snatch fish. This raptor-like dinosaur was about the size of a small car.1
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Fun facts
Kank lived about 70 million years ago in a warm, wet place with rivers and ponds.1
Its neck bones had air chambers inside, making them light and strong.1
Kank had a big claw on its second toe, like other raptors, but it probably used it for fishing, not hunting on land.1
The first Kank fossils were found in 2018, but scientists needed more bones to know it was a new species.1
Kank shared its home with giant predators like Maip macrothorax, a megaraptorid over 10 metres long.1
Kank is part of a group called unenlagiids, which are found in South America, Antarctica, Australia and Madagascar.1
Most asked questions about Kank
?What did Kank eat?
Kank mostly ate fish, like a modern heron. It may have also eaten frogs, lizards, turtles and small mammals that lived in its wetland home.12
?Did Kank have feathers?
Scientists think Kank probably had feathers, because it belongs to a group of dinosaurs called unenlagiids that are closely related to birds. No direct feather fossils of Kank have been found yet.2
?When did Kank live?
Kank lived about 70 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. That was near the very end of the age of dinosaurs.12
?Where was Kank found?
Kank was discovered at La Anita farm near El Calafate in Santa Cruz, Argentina. The fossils come from the Chorrillo Formation in southern Patagonia.12
?Was Kank bigger than Velociraptor?
Yes, Kank was a bit bigger. Velociraptor was about 2 metres long, while Kank grew up to 3 metres long.1
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Myth buster
Myth: All raptor-like dinosaurs were fast land hunters like Velociraptor.
Truth: Kank was a fish-eater that behaved like a heron, not a speedy land predator.1
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Kank
- Named by
- Motta et al. 20263
- Group
- Meat-eating dinos
- Family / clade
- Unenlagiidae3
- Classification
- Theropoda3
- Age of the rocks
- 72 to 66 million years (Maastrichtian)3
- Rock formations
- Chorrillo3
- Countries
- Argentina3
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database3
- Discovery
- Kank was named by Matías Motta and his team in 2026, based on fossils found at La Anita farm in Argentina from 2018 to 2024.1
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Kank also ate other animals like frogs or mammals, or only fish.1
Where the facts come from
- Heron-like, fish-eating dinosaur from 70 million years ago discovered in Argentina | EurekAlert! (eurekalert.org)
- Kank (Wikipedia) (Wikipedia)
- Kank 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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