Overview
- Paleontologists led by Dr. Matías Motta published the formal description of Kank australis in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology on Thursday May 28, 2026.
- The species is named from teeth, toe bones and a diagnostic, highly pneumatic cervical vertebra whose 2024 discovery enabled recognition of the new taxon.
- Distinctive features—air‑filled neck bones with muscle‑attachment and vessel‑protecting structures, an elongated snout, and ridge‑lined teeth—support the interpretation that Kank hunted fish in shallow waterways.
- Kank lived in the Chorrillo Formation near La Anita farm in southern Santa Cruz Province, Argentina, and its fossils were found alongside fish remains that reinforce the piscivory hypothesis.
- At about 2.5–3 metres long, Kank fills a southern Patagonia gap in the unenlagiid record and the team plans continued excavations to recover more material and refine its evolutionary and ecological role.