Kileskus

Name: Kileskus ‭(‬Lizard in Khakas language‭)‬.
Phonetic: Ky-les-kuss.
Named By: Averianov,‭ ‬Krasnolutskii‭ & ‬Ivantsov‭ ‬-‭ ‬2010.
Classification: Chordata,‭ ‬Reptilia,‭ ‬Dinosauria,‭ ‬Saurischia,‭ ‬Theropoda,‭ Proceratosauridae, ‬Tyrannosauroidea.
Species: K.‭ ‬aristotocus‭ (‬type‭)‬.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Uncertain due to incomplete fossil material.
Known locations: Russia,‭ ‬Krasnoyarsk Krai - Itat Formation.
Time period: Bathonian of the Jurassic
Fossil representation: Partial skull including the maxilla and premaxilla as well as foot and hand bones.

       Dating from the Bathonian period,‭ ‬Kileskus is even older than Guanlong making it a contender for one of the earliest tyrannosaurs.‭ ‬The partial skull remains have revealed the presence of a crest that rose up from the snout.‭ ‬Beyond this the only thing that can be said about Kileskus is that‭ ‬it‭ ‬appears to belong in a basal position of the Proceratosauridae,‭ ‬the group thought to belong alongside the earliest tyrannosaurs.




Further reading
- A new basal coelurosaur (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Siberia. - Proceedings of the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Science 314(1):42-57. - A. O. Averianov, S. A. Krasnolutskii & S. V. Ivantsov - 2010.
- New data on the tyrannosauroid dinosaur Kileskus from the Middle Jurassic of Siberia, Russia. - Historical Biology: 1–7. - Alexander O. Averianov, Anastasia Osochnikova, Pavel Skutschas, Sergei Krasnolutskii, Rico Schellhorn, Julia A. Schultz & Thomas Martin - 2019.

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