An international team of paleontologists identified a new species of minidinosaur in northern Spain after years of exhaustive analysis.
It is the Foskeia pelendonum, a tiny herbivore the size of a chicken that inhabited the Earth about 125 million years ago.
The particular thing about these specimens is that they present characteristics that require rethinking evolutionary theories.
It was an exceptional finding due to the unusually small size of the fossils, which makes this species true minidinosaurs.
The remains belong to at least five different individuals, according to the research led by paleontologist Paul-Emile Dieudonné, trained at the National University of Río Negro in Argentina.
A minidinosaur that can change evolutionary history
This minidinosaur measured between 25 and 30 centimeters in height and is among the smallest found in the world.
“I think we can safely say that it is probably among the smallest, if not the smallest, on the European continent,” said Koen Stein to the BBC, a paleontologist at the Free University of Brussels and co-author of the study.
The Foskeia belongs to the ornithopods, an extinct group of herbivorous dinosaurs. Specifically, it is the oldest known rhabdodontid within this group.
According to specialists, the finding has important implications for understanding the evolution of ornithopods.
“Miniaturization did not imply evolutionary simplicity,” stated Marcos Becerra, co-author of the study from the National University of Córdoba.
In fact, it is “another example of the experiments that evolution conducted.”
Minidinosaurs or juveniles? What the study says
Although initially, the tiny size of the fossils suggested they might be juveniles or young, the analysis revealed the opposite: they were indeed minidinosaurs.
In particular, at least one of them was an adult. “As young, they probably walked on all fours, while as adults they became more bipedal,” explained Stein.
The rhabdodontids were “probably very small from the start, which would have allowed them to escape predators,” noted Dieudonné about this fascinating new species of minidinosaur.
“A small size is not compatible with running long distances, but rather with quickly finding a hiding place,” he added.
A revolutionary skull
Despite its size, this minidinosaur had an unexpectedly evolved skull.
“Its anatomy is strange precisely in a way that forces us to rethink evolutionary trees,” stated paleontologist Penélope Cruzado-Caballero from the University of La Laguna.
The discovery of cranial elements allowed the formal identification of the species.
“In living beings, the part of the body that provides us with the most information is the skull,” explained Dieudonné. “It informs us about the chewing process, vision, and body balance,” he added.
The Foskeia also had distinctive features:
- Front teeth pointing forward “like a huge trident in the center”
- Unusual and complex cranial morphology
- Specific adaptations for its environment and diet
What decades of research say about this minidinosaur
Most of these minidinosaur fossils were found in 1998 by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor from the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes.
“From the beginning, we knew these bones were exceptional for their tiny size,” he stated.
However, formal identification took years due to the fragility of the remains.
“Small remains are much more fragmented… the sediments of some small bones like those of these minidinosaurs disappear more easily,” explained Dieudonné.
“One might say the most interesting thing about this discovery is that it shows there is still a lot of fossil material to be found and that most will come from small-sized dinosaurs,” added the paleontologist.
