Dinosauria Translation and Pronunciation Guide K

Ben Creisler

Kaijiangosaurus He 1984 "Kai River (China) lizard"

KIE-JYAHNG-o-SAWR-us (Chin kai "open" + Chin. jiang "river" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Kai Jiang (River), Sichuan Province, China, the region where the fossil was found. Theropoda Carnosauria i.s. M. Jur. China

Kakuru Molnar & Pledge 1980 "ancestral serpent"*

KAK-oo-roo (m) the name of a legendary ancestral serpent taken from the language of the Guyani tribe, original inhabitants of the area of Australia where the fossil was found (near Andamooka, northwest South Australia). (The name is commonly pronounced to rhyme with Kakadu [KAK-a-doo], a famous park in Australia. (per. corres. R. Molnar)). Theropoda i.s. E. Cret. Aus. [nomen dubium]

Kangnasaurus Haughton 1915 "Kangna (South Africa) lizard"

KAHNG-na-SAWR-us (Kangna + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for Kangna near where the fossil was found in the Brak River Valley, "Bushmanland," Little Namaqualand, South Africa. Ornithopoda Dryosauridae E. Cret. SAfr. [nomen dubium]

Kelmayisaurus Dong 1973 "Karamay (China) lizard" [Kelamayilong]

kuhl-MAH-yi-SAWR-us (Kelmay [Karamay] + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) from the Chinese name Kelamayi for the famous petroleum-producing city of Karamay, in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, where the fossil was found. Theropoda Carnosauria i.s. E. Cret. CAs.

Kentrosaurus Hennig 1915 "sharp-point lizard"

KEN-tro-SAWR-us (Gr. kentron "spur, sharp point" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the large spikes along its lower back and tail. (The name was once treated as preoccupied by Centrosaurus Lambe--the two names differ by one letter, however, and Kentrosaurus is considered valid under current ICZN rules.) Stegosauria Stegosauridae L. Jur. Afr.

Kentrurosaurus Hennig 1916 "sharp-point tailed lizard"

ken-TROOR-o-SAWR-us (Gr. kentron "spur, sharp point" + Gr. oura "tail" + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) proposed replacement name for Kentrosaurus, supposedly preoccupied by Centrosaurus Lambe. The names differ by one letter, however, and are not now considered homonyms. [= Kentrosaurus]

Khaan Clark, Norell & Barsbold 2001 "ruler"

KAHN (Mongolian khaan "ruler") (m) named to indicate a theropod dinosaur from Mongolia. Khaan is an medium-size oviraptorid around 1.2 m (4 ft) long, known from a complete skeleton (Holotype: IGM 100/1127 (Institute of Geology, Mongolia)), plus two additional referred skeletons, found in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Djadokhta Formation deposits at Ukhaa Tolgod, Gurvan Tes Somon, Omnogov Aimak, Mongolia. Its skull lacks the dorsal crest found in Oviraptor and is less specialized than in Citipati (the dorsal process of the premaxilla projects posterodorsally rather than being vertical, the occiput is vertical rather than facing posterodorsal). The ribs have free uncinate processes. Distinct from over oviraptorids, the metacarpal III in the hand is not expanded proximally and does not contact the distal carpals.

Type Species: Khaan mckennai [muh-KEN-uh-ie] Clark, Norell & Barsbold 2001: for Malcolm McKenna, American vertebrate paleontologist, "in recognition of his passionate interest in and efforts towards the exploration for fossils in Cretaceous deposits of Mongolia." Theropoda Oviraptorosauria Oviraptoridae Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) Mongolia [added 8-2001]

Klamelisaurus Zhao 1993 "Klameli (China) lizard"

klah-MAY-lee-SAWR-us (Klameli + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Klameli [Kelameili] mountains area, near where the specimen was found 35 kilometers north of Jiangjunmiao in the Jiangjun desert region of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwestern China. Sauropoda Euhelopidae M. Jura. China

Koparion Chure 1994 "scapel"

ko-PAYR-ee-on (Gr. koparion "small surgical knife, scalpel") (n) named "in allusion to the small size of the serrated tooth that is the type specimen"; a possible Jurassic troodontid known from a single, nearly complete maxillary tooth (Holotype: 3353 (Dinosaur National Monument)), found in the Brushy Basin member of the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. The tooth "...is more primitive than other troodontids in lacking large posterior denticles, in lacking a prounounced size difference between anterior and posterior denticles, and in having posterior denticles that bend toward the tooth apex but are not hooked." Koparion appears to be the oldest known member of the family Troodontidae.

Type species: Koparion douglassi [DUHG-luh-sie]Chure 1994: in honor of Earl Douglass (1862-1931), "who discovered and excavated the great dinosaur quarry for which Dinosaur National Monument was created." Theropoda Coelurosauria ?Troodontidae Late Jurassic (Tithonian) NA. [corrected 12-2000]

Kotasaurus Yadagiri 1988 "Kota (India) lizard"

KOHT-a-SAWR-us (Kota + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) named for the Kota Formation, Pranhitagodaviri Valley, India, where the fossil was found. Sauropoda Cetiosauridae E. Jur. India

Kritosaurus Brown 1910 "separated lizard"

KRIT-o-SAWR-us (Gr. kritos "separated, parted; chosen" (from krino "separate, part; choose, judge") + Gr. sauros "lizard") (m) probably referring to the supposed arrangement of the cheek bones in the incomplete type skull. According to Brown: "quadrate and jugal [were] completely separated by quadrato-jugal," a "distinct modification" from the "Trachodon form." The supposed separation of the bones does not appear to be real; cheek bones in hadrosaurs were somewhat loose to allow lateral movement in chewing (pleurokinesis), a detail Brown was unaware of. The name is often explained as "chosen" or "noble lizard" because of its supposed "noble" Roman nose. However, Brown originally restored the nasals in plaster with a low profile "after the skull of Trachodon (Diclonius) Cope." The first well-preserved "hook-nosed" Gryposaurus skull was described by Lambe in 1914. Brown realized his error and synonymized Kritosaurus and Gryposaurus, explaining that when he restored the original Kritosaurus skull "the left nasal was preserved but without contact to contiguous parts. Its extraordinary form was at the time considered in part due to crushing and was not placed in the restored skull." He therefore rejected an unusual "Roman nose" snout shape at the time he named the genus. (Greek kritos means "separated" by physical action or by judgment (thus the additional meanings "chosen, excellent," sometimes cited in explaining the name Kritosaurus, but inappropriate for such a fragmentary type specimen); kritos does not mean "noble.") (NOT "noble lizard") Ornithopoda Hadrosauridae Hadrosaurinae L. Cret. NA.

Kulceratops Nessov 1995 "lake horned face"

kool-SER-a-tops (Uzbek kul' "lake" + Gr. kerat- (keras) "horn" + Gr. ops "face")* (m) alluding to Lake Khodzharkul', near the type locality in the Karakalpakistan region of Uzbekistan. Ceratopsia Protoceratopsidae E. Cret. CAs.

Kunmingosaurus Chao 1985 "Kunming (Yunnan, China) lizard"

KOON-MING-o-SAWR-us (Kunming + Gr. sauros "lizard") for Kunming, near where the fossil was found at Wuding in Yunnan Province, China. Although this primitive sauropod genus has been cited and illustrated in the number of books, it apparently has not been published with a formal description, leaving the name a nomen nudum. Sauropoda E. Jur. China [nomen nudum]