Name: Kemkemia.
Phonetic: Kem-kem-e-ah.
Named By: A. Cau & S. Maganuco -
2009.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Crocodylomorpha.
Species: K. auditorei
(type).
Diet: Carnivore?
Size: Holotype vertebra 60.48 millimetres long,
33.81 millimetres high. Total size unknown due to lack of fossil
remains.
Known locations: Morocco.
Time period: Cenomanian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: One Caudal (tail)
vertebra.
When first described Kemkemia was originally thought to be a theropod dinosaur, and one with unusual vertebrae. However, three years after the description of Kemkemia, a new paper re-identified the holotype specimen of Kemkemia as actually being from a crocodile. So far, Kemkemia is only known from a single tail vertebra, which makes it next to impossible to establish any lifestyle traits about this animal.
Further reading
- A new theropod dinosaur, represented by a single unusual caudal
vertebra, from the Kem Kem Beds (Cretaceous) of Morocco. -
Atti della Societ� italiana di scienze naturali e del museo civico di
storia naturale di Milano 150:239-257. - A. Cau & S.
Maganuco - 2009.
- Crocodyliform affinities for Kemkemia auditorei
Cau and Maganuco,
2009, from the Late Cretaceous of Morocco. - Atti della Societ�
Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano,
153 (I), s. 119–126. - G. Lio, F. Agnolin, A.
Cau & S. Maganuco - 2012.