Talenkauen
Name:
Talenkauen
(small skull).
Phonetic: Tah-len-kow-en.
Named By: F. E. Novas, A. V. Cambiaso
& A. Ambrosio - 2004.
Classification: Chordata, Reptilia, Dinosauria,
Ornithischia, Ornithopoda, Iguanodontia.
Species: T. santacrucensis
(type).
Diet: Herbivore.
Size: Roughly about 4 meters long.
Known locations: Argentina - Pari Aike Formation.
Time period: Early Maastrichtian of the Cretaceous.
Fossil representation: Partial remains.
Talenkauen
is a genus of small to medium sized ornithopod dinosaur that lived in
South America during the late Cretaceous. Noted for being similar in
overall build to the much older Dryosaurus
from North America, some
of the most notable features of Talenkauen include
an arrangement of
oval plates that run alongside the rib cage. These plates seem to be
far too few in number to have served a defensive purpose, but an
alternate theory is that they may have aided respiration with the
movement of the rib cage to allow the lungs to process a larger volume
of air.
Possible
predatory threats to Talenkauen include theropod
dinosaurs such as
Orkoraptor.
Further reading
- A new basal iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the
Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia. - Ameghiniana 41(1):75-82.
- F. E. Novas, A. V. Cambiaso & A. Ambrosio
- 2004.
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