Discovery of Tiny Dinosaur Foskeia pelendonum Sheds Light on Ornithopod Evolution

Paleontologists have identified a new genus and species of small ornithopod dinosaur, Foskeia pelendonum, from the Early Cretaceous period in Spain. The fossils, representing at least five individuals, were first uncovered by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes.

The genus name Foskeia is derived from ancient Greek, with 'fos' meaning 'light' and 'skei' from 'boskein,' meaning foraging. The species name pelendonum honors the Pelendones, a Celtiberian tribe from the region.

Researchers emphasize the evolutionary significance of Foskeia. Marcos Becerra of Universidad Nacional de Córdoba remarked, "Miniaturization did not imply evolutionary simplicity—this skull is weird and hyper-derived."

Histological studies supervised by Dr. Koen Stein of Vrije Universiteit Brussel confirm that the largest specimen was a sexually mature adult. "Bone microstructure tells us that at least one individual was an adult... with a metabolic regime approaching that of small mammals or birds," Stein explained.

A new phylogenetic analysis places Foskeia as sister to the Australian Muttaburrasaurus within Rhabdodontomorpha and expands the European clade Rhabdodontia. The dataset also revives the long-debated Phytodinosauria. "In our results, the plant-eating dinosaurs... form a natural group called Phytodinosauria," explained lead researcher Paul-Emile Dieudonné.

Despite its small size, Foskeia shows specialized dentition and evidence of shifting posture during growth, relying on bursts of speed in dense forests. Dieudonné added, "These fossils prove that evolution experimented just as radically at small body sizes as at large ones."