Glossary K
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KAGASAURUS
(pronounced KAH-guh-SAWR-us) Kagasaurus was a large, meat-eating, biped,
a dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period, about 135-100 million years
ago. This theropod is only known from a large, sharp, fossilized tooth
found in Japan. Kagasaurus is a doubtful genus since only a tooth has
been found.
KAIJIANGOSAURUS
(pronounced kie-JANG-oh-SAWR-us) Kaijiangosaurus (meaning: "Kai River
lizard") was a meat-eating, biped, a theropod dinosaur from the mid
Jurassic Period about 175-163 million years ago. This Tetanuran is only
known from fossil vertebrae found in China. Kaijiangosaurus was named
by paleontologist He in 1984. The type species is K. lini.
KAKURU
(pronounced ka-KOO-roo or KA-koo-roo) Kakuru (meaning: "rainbow serpent,"
because it is known from an opal tibia) was a dinosaur from the early
Cretaceous Period, about 119-113 million years ago. It is known from a
tibia, a leg bone which was fossilized as an opal (and the only dinosaur
fossil preserved this way). Kakuru was a small, bird-like theropod, a
meat-eater perhaps related to Avimimus. It was found in Australia. It
was named by Molnar and Pledge in 1980.
KANGNASAURUS
(pronounced KANG-na-SAWR-us) Kangnasaurus (meaning: "Kangna (a farm
in South Africa) lizard") was a small, plant-eating dinosaur, an
iguanodontid ornithopod from the early Cretaceous Period, about 145-97.5
million years ago. This dinosaur is only known from a very incomplete
fossil found in Little Namaqualand, South Africa. Kangnasaurus was named
by paleontologist Haughton in 1915. The type species is K. coetzeei. This
is a doubtful genus.
KANNEMEYERIA
Kannemeyeria was a small dicynodont (a mammal-like reptile, not a dinosaur)
from the early Triassic Period. This early therapsid was an herbivore
(a plant-eater) with sprawling legs that lived on open plains. It was
hunted by predators like Cynognathus (another early therapsid). Fossils
have been found in Africa.
KATSUYAMASAURUS
(pronounced cat-SOO-yah-muh-SAWR-us) Katsuyamasaurus was a large, meat-eating
dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period, about 145-97.5 million years
ago. This theropod is only known from a lower arm bone found in Japan.
This is a doubtful genus.
KEICHOUSAURUS
(pronounced KEE-chi-oh-SAUR-us) Keichousaurus hui was an early reptile
(not a dinosaur) that lived during the Triassic Period, roughly 210 million
years ago. Keishousaurus was about 6-11 inches (15-29 cm) long and had
a long neck, a long tail, five-toed feet with long digits, and a pointed
head with sharp teeth. It may have lived in the water. This quadruped
had sturdy legs. Fossils have been found in Guanglin, Guizhou Province,
China.
KELMAYISAURUS
Kelmayisaurus (meaning: "Kelmayi [a city in China] lizard")
was a large, bipedal, meat-eating dinosaur, a theropod, from the early
Cretaceous Period, about 119 to 97.5 million years ago. Fossils have been
found in China. The type species is K. petrolicus. Kelmayisaurus was named
by Dong in 1973. This poorly-known dinosaur is a doubtful genus.
KENTROSAURUS
(pronounced KEN-troh-SAWR-us) Kentrosaurus was a late-Jurassic stegosaur
with both spikes and plates. It was about 17 feet (5 m) long and lived
during the late Jurassic Period, roughly 156-150 million years ago.
KHAAN
(pronounced KAAN) Khaan (meaning: "lord" in Mongolian) was an
oviraptorid dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous Period. This
theropod is known from an almost complete fossil found in the Djadokhta
Formation, Ukhaa Tolgod, Mongolia. Khaan was named by Clark, James M.,
Norell, Mark A. and Barsbold, Rinchen in 2001; the type species is K.
mckennai.
KINGDOM
In classification, a kingdom is the highest grouping of similar organisms.
A kingdom contains one or more phyla (plural of phylum). Life on Earth
is divided into five kingdoms: Animalia (animals), Plantae (plants), Fungi,
Protista (protozoans and eucaryotic algae), and Monera (prokaryotes: blue-green
algae and bacteria).
KITADANISAURUS
(pronounced KAH-guh-SAWR-us) Kitadanisaurus was a small, meat-eating,
biped, a dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period, about 144-97.5 million
years ago. This theropod is only known from a sharp, fossilized tooth
found in Japan. Kitadanisaurus is a doubtful genus since only this tooth
has been found.
KIRKLAND, JAMES I.
James Ian Kirkland (1954- ) is an American geologist and paleontologist
who has studied dinosaurs from the soutwestern USA for over 20 years,
discovering many new and important genera. Kirkland named (or co-named)
the dinosaurs: Animantarx (Carpenter, Kirkland, Burge, and Bird, 1999),
"Eohadrosaurus" (Kirkland, 1997 [nomen nudum]), Eolambia (Kirkland,
1998), Gastonia (Kirkland, 1998), Mymoorapelta (Kirkland and Carpenter,
1994), Nedcolbertia (Kirkland, Britt, Whittle, S. K. Madsen, and Burge,
1998), Utahraptor (Kirkland, Burge, and Gaston, 1993), and Zuniceratops
(Wolfe and Kirkland, 1998). Kirkland is an adjunct Professor of Geology
at Mesa State College, Grand Junction, Colorado, a research Associate
of the Denver Museum of Natural History, and a Utah State Paleontologist
with the Utah Geologic Survey.
KLAMELISAURUS
(pronounced klah-MEH-lee-SAWR-us ) Klamelisaurus (meaning: "Klameli
{China} lizard") was a sauropod dinosaur from the middle Jurassic
Period. This long-necked, long-tailed, quadrupedal plant-eater is known
from fossils found in the Jiangjun Desert region of China. It was named
by Zhao in 1993.
Koolasuchus
This salamander-like reptile was a carnivore that lived in the Antarctic
during the Early Cretaceous period. It survived well in the polar forests,
living off river life such as fish and crayfish. It had a huge flat head
with lidless eyes for all-round viewing. It was up to 5 metres long and
30 cm high. Special sensory grooves that criss-crossed its head allowed
it to sense movement in the surrounding water.
KOPARION
(pronounced co-PARR-ee-on) Koparion (meaning: "scalpel tooth")
was a meat-eating, bipedal theropod dinosaur, a coelurosaur from the late
Jurassic Period. This Tetanuran is only known from an upper tooth found
in Utah, USA. It may have been about 1.5 ft (0.5 m) long. It was named
by Chure in 1994. The type species is K. douglassi.
KOTASAURUS
(pronounced KOHT-ah-SAWR-us) Kotasaurus (meaning: "Kota [Formation]
lizard") was a largesauropod dinosaur from the early Jurassic Period,
about 208 million to 188 million years ago. It is the most primitive known
sauropod, and is similar to prosauropods in some ways (the hip bones).
This quadrupedal plant-eater was about 30 ft (9 m) long. It had a bulky
body, a long tail and a long neck. It is known from a partial skeleton
found in India (with no skull). It was named by Yadagiri in 1988. The
type species is K. yamanpalliensis.
KRITOSAURUS
(pronounced KRIT-oh-SAWR-us) Kritosaurus (meaning: "Noble lizard")
is a doubtful genus; this fossils may actually be Gryposaurus, but may
be a separate genus. It was a duck-billed dinosaur from the late Cretaceous
Period, about 76 to 65 million years ago. This hadrosaurid was a plant-eater
that was about 30 feet (9 m) long. It had a flat head and a big bump on
its snout. It is known from a fragmentary skull found in the San Juan
basin of New Mexico, USA. Kritosaurus was named by fossil hunter Barnum
Brown in 1910. The type species is K. navajovius (known from a poorly-preserved
skull).
KRONOSAURUS
(pronounced KRONE-oh-SAWR-us) Kronosaurus was a plesiosaur 30 feet (9
m) long with a short neck and huge head and jaws. The head was up to 9
feet (2.7 m) long, about 1/4 of the entire length of the body. It had
rounded teeth at the back of the jaws to crush shells and cephalopods.
It lived in the seas that covered parts of Australia during the early
Cretaceous Period. Fossils have been found in Australia. It was discovered
in Queensland, Australia in 1889 by A Crombie; it was named and described
by Longman in 1924. It was not a dinosaur, but a plesiosaur, another type
of extinct reptile. Classification: Order Plesiosauria, Superfamily Pliosauroidea,
Family Dolichorhynchopidae.
K-T boundary
The K-T Boundary was the boundary between the Cretaceous and Tertiary
periods, occurring 65 million years ago (the K comes from the Greek for
chalk, kreta). This was a time of the huge extinction that killed the
last of the dinosaurs as well as many other animal groups.
K-T EXTINCTION
The K-T extinction was the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years
ago, at the boundary of the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.
KUEHNEOSAURUS
(pronounced CUNE-ee-oh-SAWR-us) Kuehneosaurus (meaning: "Kuehne's
lizard") was a very early lizard (not a dinosaur) with wing-like
membranes between the front and rear legs. It could glide through the
air using these triangular flaps. The membranes were over 12 inches (30
cm) when spread out. Kuehneosaurus itself was 26 inches (65 cm) long.
This meat-eater had powerful jaws, four long, thin limbs (the rear legs
were longer than the front legs), and a very long, thin tail. It dates
from the late Triassic period (over 200 million years ago) in England.
KULCERATOPS
(pronounced kool-SER-ah-tops) Kulceratops (meaning: "lake-horned
face") was an early ceratopsian dinosaur (a frilled, horned plant-eater)
from the early Cretaceous Period. Only a jaw bone was found (in Uzbekistan);
this is a dubious genus. It was named by Nessov in 1995.
KUNMINGOSAURUS
(pronounced KUNE-MING-oh-SAWR-us) Kunmingosaurus (meaning: "Kunming
lizard") was a primitive sauropod dinosaur (a frilled, horned plant-eater)
from the early Jurassic Period. Fossils of this quadrupedal plant-eater
were found in Yunnan Province, China. It was named by Chao in 1985.