Overview
- The peer-reviewed description in Papers in Palaeontology names Foskeia pelendonum from Early Cretaceous deposits at the Vegagete site in Burgos, Spain.
- Fossils from at least five individuals include newly recovered cranial elements scanned and 3D reconstructed, enabling a formal diagnosis based on distinctive teeth and jaw features.
- Bone microstructure shows the largest specimen was a sexually mature small-bodied adult with relatively fast growth and a metabolism approaching that of small birds or mammals.
- Phylogenetic analysis places Foskeia within Rhabdodontomorpha as sister to Australia's Muttaburrasaurus, expanding the European clade Rhabdodontia.
- The dataset also revives support for a Phytodinosauria grouping and points to specialized feeding and growth-related posture shifts, with authors emphasizing these signals need further testing.