| Ilokelesia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Dinosauria |
| Clade: | Saurischia |
| Clade: | Theropoda |
| Family: | †Abelisauridae |
| Genus: | †Ilokelesia Coria &Salgado, 1998 |
| Species: | †I. aguadagrandensis |
| Binomial name | |
| †Ilokelesia aguadagrandensis Coria & Salgado, 1998 | |
Ilokelesia is an extinct genus ofabelisauridtheropod dinosaurs, preserved in the layers of theearliestLate Cretaceous of theHuincul Formation (Neuquén Group) inNeuquén Province, Argentina.[1] The only known specimen, consisting of fragmentary elements of the skull and skeleton, was described byRodolfo Coria andLeonardo Salgado in late 1998.
Ilokelesia is only known from very fragmentary elements of the skull and the axial and appendicular skeleton, discovered in 1991.[2] It was discovered ten meters away from where the holotype ofHuinculsaurus was discovered. The genus was named and described in 1998.[3]
The generic name is derived from theMapuche language,ilo meaning "flesh" andkelesio, "lizard"; while the specific name reflects the name of the locality where the fossil was found, Aguada Grande.[3]
Ilokelesia was a medium-sizedtheropod. In 2010Gregory S. Paul gave a length of 4 meters (13 ft) and a weight of 200 kg (440 lbs).[4] In 2016 it was estimated to be 5.3 metres (17 ft) in length in a comprehensive analysis of abelisaur size.[5] The same year another estimation listed it higher at 5.8 meters (19 ft) and 840 kg (1,850 lbs).[6] It is characterized by features of the skull, namely of the quadrate and postorbital bones. The vertebral series also has distinctive characters setting it apart from other abelisaurs, such as reduced processes on the cervical vertebrae and dorsal vertebrae lackingpleurocoels.[3]
Ilokelesia was considered the most basal abelisaur described at the time, sharing characters, such as an expansion of the postorbital bone above the orbit and a flange of the same bone inside the orbit, withAbelisauridae andNoasauridae; but it was considered to retain primitive features forAbelisauria, such as an opening in the quadrate bone and a T-shaped postorbital.[3] A subsequent analysis has placed it within Abelisauridae, as a brachyrostran carnotaurine.[7]
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