Kuru
Type species Kuru kulla
- Lived
- 84 to 72 million years ago, Late Cretaceous
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Group
- Theropods, Dromaeosauridae
- Found in
- Mongolia
- Named by
- Napoli et al. 2021
Where its fossils were found
The evidence
Today
80 million years ago
Habitat
Sand dunes surrounded patches of vegetation, temporary streams and shallow lakes. Other dinosaurs of the Baruungoyot Formation included Shri, Saichania and Tarchia.
Field notes
About Kuru
What it was like
Kuru was a raptor, a feathered hunter with a sickle claw on each foot. It is known from part of a skull and skeleton.
Its world
It lived in the Late Cretaceous in what is now Mongolia. Its bones come from the Baruungoyot Formation, where it shared the land with the armored Saichania and Tarchia.
How it was found
Napoli and colleagues named Kuru in 2021, from a single find. The skeleton had been known for years under a nickname before it was formally described. Its name comes from a goddess of an old religious tradition.
Field gallery
More views of Kuru
Scenes reconstructed from the available fossil evidence.
1 of 3
Lived alongside
Found in the same rock formations
A rock formation can hold fossils laid down millions of years apart, so not every animal here met Kuru.
The evidence
The science behind Kuru
Which parts of the picture come from its own bones, and which come from its relatives.
From its own fossils
- A partial skeleton preserves pieces of the skull and lower jaw, neck and back vertebrae, part of the hips, arm and hand bones, and leg bones.
- The lower jaw has teeth with serrated edges, and a skull bone carries a small horn-like projection beside the eye. The front of the jaw is fairly straight and turns down at its tip, and the rear of the jaw is deep.
- The wrist and hand bones were found partly joined. The second toe is less enlarged than in Shri, a raptor from the same rocks.
Borrowed from relatives
- Missing parts of the skull, such as the snout and skull roof, are restored from Linheraptor, a raptor known from a well-preserved skull.
- Feathers are inferred from relatives: Zhenyuanlong preserves feathers on its neck, back and arms, and Velociraptor forearm bones carry feather attachment bumps.
Still unknown
- Its closest relative. The study that named it found it closest to Adasaurus in one version of its family tree, but this is not settled.
- Its feather colors and patterns.
- Which animals it hunted.
Discovery timeline
- 1974Its worldGradziński & Jerzykiewicz
- 2007Close relativeTurner, Makovicky & Norell
- 2021Named itNapoli et al.
- 2023Same rocksCzepiński
Key papers
The research behind what we know of Kuru
Its world
Interpreted the dinosaur-bearing sandstones as dunes interspersed with temporary lakes and streams, with vegetation growing between the dunes.
Dinosaur- and mammal-bearing aeolian and associated deposits of the Upper Cretaceous in the Gobi Desert (Mongolia). Sedimentary Geology 12: 249-278
Read the paper : Dinosaur- and mammal-bearing aeolian and associated deposits of the Upper Cretaceous in the Gobi Desert (Mongolia) (opens in a new tab)Close relative
Found feather attachment bumps on a Velociraptor forearm, supporting feathered restorations of related raptors such as Kuru.
Feather quill knobs in the dinosaur Velociraptor. Science 317: 1721
Read the paper : Feather quill knobs in the dinosaur Velociraptor (opens in a new tab)Named it
Described the partial skeleton and identified differences in the skull and backbone that distinguish Kuru from other raptors.
A New Dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Coelurosauria) from Khulsan, Central Mongolia. American Museum Novitates 2021
Read the paper : A New Dromaeosaurid (Dinosauria: Coelurosauria) from Khulsan, Central Mongolia (opens in a new tab)Same rocks
Described the skull of Shri, a raptor from the same rocks, and compared it with Kuru, which has a straighter jaw and a less enlarged second toe.
Skull of a dromaeosaurid Shri devi from the Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert suggests convergence to the North American forms. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 68
Read the paper : Skull of a dromaeosaurid Shri devi from the Upper Cretaceous of the Gobi Desert suggests convergence to the North American forms (opens in a new tab)
Close relatives
Other members of Dromaeosauridae
Sources: Wikidata