Kelenken is a genus of giant flightless predatory birds of the extinct family Phorusrhacidae, or "terror birds". The type and only species is K. guillermoi, first formally described in 2007 after the find in 1999. It is the largest member of the family.
Etymology and discovery[]
The genus is named after Kélenken, a demon in the mythology of the Tehuelche people. The species epithet refers to Guillermo Aguirre Zabala, who discovered the holotype fossil.[1]
A fossil of the genus was discovered in March 1999 by student Guillermo Oscar Aguirre Zabala and a friend, about 100 metres (330 ft) from the train station of Comallo, a small village in the Río Negro Province. They were fossil hunting and found other fossils before. After discovering the fossil, they contacted the paleontological museum in Bariloche. The fossil was handed to the museum and was in their collection for five years before being formally described. The find was studied by paleontologist Luis María Chiappe, together with Sara Bertelli and Claudia Tambussi. Later, a complete lower leg bone ascribed to Kelenken was found.
Description[]
Kelenken lived in the Langhian stage of the Miocene, approximately 15 million years ago. Fossils were found in tuff beds of the Colloncuran Collón Cura Formation in the Cañadón Asfalto Basin of western Patagonia, Argentina.[3]
It was the largest species of phorusrhacid, and with a skull 71.6 centimetres (28.2 in) long, it possessed the largest head of any known bird.[4] The tarsometatarsus of one fossil specimen is 43.7 centimetres (17.2 in) long.[1] The discovery of the long leg bone led the researchers conclude Kelenken was a fast runner, more than other terror birds. The size of the skull and its jaw muscles led to the conclusion the terror bird had an enormous bite force.