Foskeia, new rhabdodontomorph from Lower Cretaceous of Spain + Alickmeron, junior synonym of Alwakeria

[Ben Creisler]

Ben Creisler

bcre...@gmail.com

New papers:

Foskeia pelendonum gen. et sp. nov.
Rhabdodontia nov.


Paul-Emile Dieudonné, Marcos Gabriel Becerra, Tábata Zanesco, Thierry Tortosa, Penélope Cruzado-Caballero, Koen Stein & Fidel Torcida Fernández-Baldor (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): e70057
doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/spp2.70057
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.70057


The Vegagete ornithopod is a diminutive bipedal iguanodont from the upper Barremian to lower Aptian (Lower Cretaceous) Castrillo de la Reina Formation of the Burgos Province (Spain). This dinosaur is principally known from disarticulated and fragmentary postcranial remains and was established as the earliest rhabdodontomorph. However, the nature of this material did not allow formal diagnosis of what still appeared to be a new taxon due to its particularly small body size. Recently, new cranial elements have been identified. These elements underwent micro-computed tomography scanning, segmentation and three-dimensional assembly. We herein name the Vegagete ornithopod Foskeia pelendonum gen. et sp. nov. It is diagnosed by a high number of unique features such as the possession of fused premaxillae, procumbent premaxillary teeth, one filiform first dentary tooth, and an elevated craniomandibular joint. Simultaneously, we observe a unique ventrolateral extension of the insertion of the muscle adductor mandibulae externus superficialis on the coronoid process of the dentary. Answering a number of phylogenetic controversies, we provide an updated, taxonomically augmented ornithischian phylogeny toward poorly sampled regions of the ornithischian tree. Rhabdodontia nov. is defined as a restricted clade of European rhabdodontomorphs, including F. pelendonum and rhabdodontids. Rhabdodontomorpha is nested to the base of Ankylopollexia. Thescelosauridae includes Tenontosaurus, and Dryosauridae includes Elasmaria. Agilisaurus louderbacki and Minimocursor phunoiensis are basal ornithopods. Heterodontosauridae remains at the base of Pachycephalosauria. Silesauridae and Sauropodomorpha are resolved in a position closer to Ornithischia than to Theropoda. This provisional result is pending the inclusion of more saurischian characters and taxa.

*****
News:

Tiny new dinosaur Foskeia pelendonum reshapes the dinosaur family tree

https://press.vub.ac.be/tiny-new-dinosaur-foskeia-pelendonum-reshapes-the-dinosaur-family-tree

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1114694

https://novataxa.blogspot.com/2026/02/foskeia.html
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Skye N. McDavid, Cy J. Marchant & Iain J. Reid (2026)
Alickmeron Sen & Ray, 2025 is an objective junior synonym of Alwalkeria Chatterjee & Creisler, 1994
Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology e2604088
doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2025.2604088
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2025.2604088


The appendicular material assigned to Alwalkeria maleriensis was recently reanalyzed and concluded that the taxon was founded on a chimera of probable herrerasaurid dinosaur and pterosauromorph material. As such, those authors restricted the hypodigm to two incomplete femora, proposing the new genus Alickmeron for the species Alwalkeria maleriensis. Alickmeron Sen & Ray, 2025 has the same holotype and type species as Alwalkeria Chatterjee & Creisler, 1994, rendering Alickmeron an objective junior synonym of Alwalkeria. The correct combination for this species is therefore Alwalkeria maleriensis. Following the recent reanalysis, the holotype of this species is restricted to ISI R 306b, a distal right femur. A review of the taxonomic and nomenclatural history of ISI R 306 is provided.

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[Gregory Paul]

I do not have much investment in these paleo phylo disputes -- except that heterodontosaurs look like marginocephalian relations to me -- but all these radically different alternative schemes are complicating doing the field guide on ornithischains! 

GSPaul

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[Jaime Headden]

It's worth a really interesting and nuanced leading chapter on the subject! Fortunately, once you get INTO Ornithischia (Traditional), the origins doesn't alter much downstream.

Cheers,

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Jaime A. Headden

The Bite Stuff: http://qilong.wordpress.com/

"Innocent, unbiased observation is a myth" - P. B. Medawar (1969)

[Gregory Paul]

The field guides are not technical enough to do that, such detailed techno discussion would literally turn off many readers sad to say. And these issues are not an area I am highly knowledgable about, I have no plans to do technical work on them. 

GSPaul

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[Jaime Headden]

That's fair.

So the next obvious question is: is it possible some part of Foskeia pelendonum ... ceratopsian? Admittedly, I've not read the paper, but premaxillary teeth in an ankylopollexian, and perhaps in any iguanodontian, but especially one as nested as basal Ankylopollexia, is *weird*.

Cheers,

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[Tim Williams]

Wow, _Foskeia_ is one weird little ornithischian.

Looking ahead, and an obvious point: but I'm looking forward to how many rhadbodonts/rhabdodontomorphs turn out to be ceratopsians.

The name _Foskeia_ is odd.  According to the authors: "The prefix _fos_ means ‘light’, given the very lightweight and small body size of grown individuals."  But _fos_ (_phos_ or φῶς) means light as in illumination (such as in phosphorus meaning 'light-bringer'), not light as in lightweight.  So something might be amiss with the translation from the original Greek.

[Sean McKelvey]

I could be totally off the mark here, but I question the placement of Muttaburrasaurus and Fostoria in Rhabdodontomorpha?

Not because I haven't seen similar placements before, but because the rest of that group are all confined to Europe? It's not impossible that they were much more widespread than we currently understand, probably likely even, but wouldn't a placement within Elasmaria be more parsimonious, at least as it presently stands?

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[Stephen Poropat]

Very likely that Mutt and Fostoria are what happens when elasmarians go large. That’s the result Fonseca et al. (2024) returned. They’ve never made sense as rhabdodontomorphs from a palaeobiogrographic perspective.

Dr Stephen F. Poropat

Deputy Director

Western Australian Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre

School of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Curtin University

Bentley, Western Australia

Australia 6102

https://stephenporopat.weebly.com/

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[Ben Creisler]

The Foskeia paper is now free to read online (but not download):

Free to read:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/spp2.70057