GOLLYGEE!

Pegomastax is one of the smallest dinosaur species ever discovered.

The New York Times reports on the unveiling of a new species of dinosaur that was discovered quite some time ago. The new species is called Pegomastax and  it is one of the smallest dinosaurs ever discovered. The rock containing the fossil was found in 1963 and the discovery of the species occured back in 1983. The discovery is just being made public. Pegomastax is believed to have been an herbivore:

His close examination showed that behind the parrot-shaped beak were a pair of stabbing canines up front and a set of tall teeth tucked behind for slicing plants. These teeth in upper and lower jaws operated like self-sharpening scissors, Dr. Sereno said, with shearing wear facets that slid past one another when the jaws closed. The parrotlike skull, he noted, may have been adapted to plucking fruit.

Dr. Sereno said it was “very rare that a plant-eater like Pegomastax would sport sharp-edged enlarged canines.” Some scientists suggested that the creature may have consumed some meat, or at least insects.

In his new study, Dr. Sereno concluded that the creature’s fangs, unusual for a herbivore, were probably “for nipping and defending themselves, not for eating meat.” Other aspects about the new species and other heterodontosaurs, including their chewing mechanism, are evolutionary surprises, he said, and “their anatomy is key to understanding the early evolution of this great group of plant eaters.”