Portuguese American Journal

Science: New small dinosaur species discovered – Portugal

Portuguese and Spanish paleontologists revealed on Tuesday they had discovered a completely new species of dinosaur which they believe to be the smallest herbivorous dinosaur found in Portugal.

According to the paleontologists, it is probably the tiniest of all plant-eating dinosaurs found, apparently still growing, and that when fully grown would have become larger.

“It’s one of the smallest on record in Portugal and probably the smallest of herbivorous dinosaurs, because it belongs to one of the smallest groups at a global level and because it probably wasn’t yet an adult,” researcher Fernando Escasso told Lusa news agency.

Escasso is one of the researchers in a team involved in the discovery, associated with the National History Society of Torres Vedras, the University of Lisbon and the University of Madrid. The new identified dinosaur belongs to the Natural History Society of Torres Vedras.

"Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis", the smallest dinosaurs species found in Portugal.

The”Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis”, the smallest dinosaur species found in Portugal. Source: Natural History Society of Torres Vedras.

Named “Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis“, the dinosaur found comprises of part of the tail, the pelvis and rear paws. It was an herbivore that could run very quickly and agilely with just two legs. It had small arms and a long tail and would have stood about half a meter high and 1.6 meters long.

Last year, two paleontologists in Portugal, Christophe Hendrickx and Octávio Mateus, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, identified a new species of carnivorous dinosaur from 150 million years ago.

Portugal is very productive in Late Jurassic paleontological findings. The Lourinhã Museum has a rich paleontological collection, particularly of Late Jurassic dinosaurs known as the “Lourinhã Formation.”

paj.staff.lusa

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