FOSKEIA
a plant-eating rhabdodontid ornithopod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Spain.
Pronunciation: foh-SKAY-ah
Meaning: Lightweight Forager
Author/s: Dieudonné
et al. (
2026)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Burgos Province, Spain
Discovery Chart Position: #1187
Foskeia pelendonum
(Lightweight Forager of the Pelendones)Etymology
Foskeia is derived from the ancient Greek "fos" (light) and the "skei" from "boskein (to forage), in reference to the small and lightweight size of adult individuals, and their presumed herbivorous habits.
The
species epithet,
pelendonum, refers to the Pelendones, a Celtiberian tribe from the Fuentes del Duero (north of Soria Province, southeast of Burgos, and perhaps the southeast of La Rioja).
ZooBank registry:
urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:AFC9E024-86F2-4B6F-BB47-8050624F2280.
Discovery
The remains of
Foskeia were discovered in the Castrillo de la Reina Formation at the Vegagete fossil site, 1.5 km northeast of Villanueva del Carazo village, near the municipality of Salas de los Infantes, Burgos Province, Spain, by Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes.
Based on thigh count, five individuals, varying in age from neonatal to adult, were present in the quarry. The largest and oldest was designated as
holotype and includes 41 fossils, catalogued as MDS-VG plus a designated number. Another 152 fossils represent the paratype.
Estimations
Timeline:
Era: Mesozoic
Epoch: Early Cretaceous
Stage: Barremian-Aptian
Age range: 121 mya
Stats:
Est. max. length: ?
Est. max. hip height: ?
Est. max. weight: ?
Diet: Herbivore
References
• Dieudonné P-E, Tortosa T, Fernández-Baldor FT, Canudo JI and Díaz-Martínez I (2016) "An Unexpected Early Rhabdodontid from Europe (Lower Cretaceous of Salas de los Infantes, Burgos Province, Spain) and a Re-Examination of Basal Iguanodontian Relationships".
PLOS ONE, 11(6): e0156251. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156251.
• Dieudonné P-E, Becerra MG, Zanesco T, Tortosa T, Cruzado-Caballero P, Stein K and Fernández-Baldor FT (2025) "
Foskeia pelendonum, a new rhabdodontomorph from the Lower Cretaceous of Salas de los Infantes (Burgos Province, Spain), and a new phylogeny of ornithischian dinosaurs".
Papers in Palaeontology, 12(1): e70057. DOI: 10.1002/spp2.70057.
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To cite this page:
Atkinson, L.
"
FOSKEIA :: from DinoChecker's dinosaur archive".
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http://www.dinochecker.com/dinosaurs/FOSKEIA›. Web access: 06th Mar 2026.
