Open Paleo

Foskeia

Dieudonné et al., 2026 foh-SKAY-ah

From Ancient Greek 'phōs' meaning 'light' and 'boskein' meaning 'to forage', referring to its small size and presumed herbivorous habits.

125.8–113.2 million years ago Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous
Early Cretaceous stages

Foskeia is an extinct genus of rhabdodontomorph ornithopod dinosaurs known from the Early Cretaceous (Barremian to Aptian ages) Castrillo de la Reina Formation of Spain. The genus contains a single species, Foskeia pelendonum, known from fossils of multiple individuals of different ontogenetic stages. Before its formal description, it had been nicknamed the "Vegagete ornithopod."

Diagnosis

  1. Two procumbent premaxillary teeth with crowns extending beyond the external border of the premaxillae
  2. Anteriormost dentary tooth filiform
  3. In dorsoventral view, anteromedian incision of the frontals at the contact with the nasals
  4. Angular step above the distomedial condyle of quadrate; distomedial condyle more distally expanded than distolateral condyle
  5. Insertion of muscle adductor mandibulae externus superficialis (mAMES) on the lateral surface of the coronoid process of dentary with unique ventrolateral extension
  6. Quadratomandibular cotylus located well above the occlusal plane; dorsoventrally expanded angular with ventral margin strongly raised posterodorsally

Species

Foskeia pelendonum Dieudonné et al., 2026

Type species

Named for the Pelendones, a Celtiberian tribe from the Fuentes de Duero, near the type locality in Burgos Province, Spain.

Holotype
MDS-VG, 285 , Museo de Dinosaurios de Salas de los Infantes
Material
Syntype based on bones and teeth from a single individual.
Horizon
Castrillo de la Reina Formation, Barremian–Aptian, Early Cretaceous , 125.8–113.2 million years ago
Locality
Vegagete, Burgos, Spain

References

  1. Dieudonné, P.; Becerra, M. G.; Zanesco, T.; Tortosa, T.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Stein, K.; Torcida Fernández-Baldor, F. (2026). 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). Wiley. doi:10.1002/spp2.70057

    Recovers Foskeia as the sister of Rhabdodontidae, a pair it names Rhabdodontia, within Rhabdodontomorpha.

    dieudonné2026a
  2. Dieudonné, P. E.; Tortosa, T.; Torcida Fernández-Baldor, F.; Canudo, J. I.; 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: e0156251. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0156251

    Describes the material as the unnamed Vegagete ornithopod and recovers it as a rhabdodontomorph.

    dieudonné2016a
  3. Dieudonné, P. E.; Cruzado-Caballero, P.; Godefroit, P.; Tortosa, T. (2020). A new phylogeny of cerapodan dinosaurs. Historical Biology 33(10): 2335-2355. doi:10.1080/08912963.2020.1793979

    Recovers the Vegagete ornithopod as the closest outgroup of Rhabdodontidae.

    dieudonné2020a
  4. Bell, P. R.; Brougham, T.; Herne, M. C.; Frauenfelder, T.; Smith, E. T. (2019). Fostoria dhimbangunmal, gen. et sp. nov., a new iguanodontian (Dinosauria, Ornithopoda) from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 39(1): e1564757. Informa UK Limited. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1564757

    Recovers the Vegagete ornithopod in a polytomy with Gasparinisaura and parksosaurids, outside Rhabdodontomorpha.

    bell2019a