Kileskus
Kileskus was an early cousin of the famous Tyrannosaurus rex. It lived about 166 million years ago, long before T. rex existed, and was much smaller. It was a meat-eater that walked on two legs.1
When did it live?
How big was it?
How long was it?
How tall was it?
at the hips, estimate
How heavy was it?
How big was Kileskus compared to YOU?
Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Fun facts
Kileskus is one of the oldest known tyrannosauroids, the group that includes Tyrannosaurus rex. It lived about 100 million years before T. rex.1
Scientists found only a few bones of Kileskus: part of the upper jaw, a skull bone, and some hand and foot bones.1
Kileskus had a long skull that looked similar to another early tyrannosaur called Proceratosaurus from England.12
Its nostrils were tilted backward at a 40-degree angle, which is a clue that helps scientists know it was a proceratosaurid.1
The name Kileskus means 'lizard' in the Khakas language, spoken by people in Siberia where the fossils were found.1
Most asked questions about Kileskus
?How big was Kileskus?
Nobody knows for sure, but it was small. Its upper jaw bone was just under 30 cm long, while the same bone in adult Tyrannosaurus rex was 60 cm long or longer, so Kileskus was much smaller than its later relatives.4
?When did Kileskus live?
Kileskus lived about 166 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period. That is about 100 million years before Tyrannosaurus rex appeared.14
?What did Kileskus eat?
Kileskus was a meat-eater. It was a theropod dinosaur, and its teeth and jaws show it hunted or scavenged other animals.1
?Did Kileskus have feathers?
Scientists do not know for sure, but it was an early tyrannosauroid, and many early tyrannosaurs were small and fuzzy. No feather fossils of Kileskus have been found, but it might have had some.4
?Was Kileskus a dinosaur?
Yes, Kileskus was a dinosaur. It was a theropod, a group of two-legged, mostly meat-eating dinosaurs that includes Tyrannosaurus rex.1
?Why is Kileskus important?
Kileskus is one of the oldest known tyrannosauroids, the group that includes T. rex. It helps scientists understand how tyrannosaurs first evolved, because it lived 100 million years before T. rex.1
Ask Rex about Kileskus
Rex only answers questions about this page. 3 questions a day.
Rex is an AI and can make mistakes. He runs on servers in the EU and questions are never saved. Never type your name or other personal things.
For dino experts
- Scientific name
- Kileskus
- Named by
- Averianov et al. 20105
- Group
- Tyrannosaurs
- Family / clade
- Proceratosauridae5
- Classification
- Theropoda > Tyrannosauroidea5
- Age of the rocks
- 168 to 165 million years (Bathonian)5
- Rock formations
- Itat5
- Countries
- Russia5
- Fossil records
- 2 in the Paleobiology Database5
- Discovery
- Kileskus was named in 2010 by paleontologists Alexander Averianov, Sergei Krasnolutskii, and Stepan Ivantsov. They found the fossils in the Itat Formation of Siberia, Russia.12
- Still debated
- Scientists are not sure if Kileskus had a small crest on its nose, because the crest bones have not been found yet.1
Where the facts come from
- Kileskus (en.wikipedia.org)
- Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS | A new basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Siberia (zin.ru)
- ΠΠΈΠ»Π΅ΡΠΊ β ΠΠΈΠΊΠΈΠΏΠ΅Π΄ΠΈΡ (gottod.com)
- K is for Kileskus | National Geographic (nationalgeographic.com)
- Kileskus 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.
Rex is hungry! Dino Wiki is a dad's project for his dino-loving son, free with no ads. Grown-ups can feed Rex a snack to help keep it online.Feed Rex
Tyrannosaurus
Tarbosaurus
Albertosaurus
Daspletosaurus
Gorgosaurus
Alectrosaurus
Ichthyosaurus
Khudiakovia
Ophthalmosaurus
Pterodactylus
Peloneustes
Rhamphocephalus