Dinosaurs are often thought of as large, fierce animals, but
new research highlights a previously overlooked diversity of small dinosaurs.
In the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, a team of paleontologists from the
University of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Cleveland Museum of Natural
History and University of Calgary have described a new dinosaur, the smallest
plant-eating dinosaur species known from Canada. Albertadromeus syntarsus was
identified from a partial hind leg, and other skeletal elements, that indicate
it was a speedy runner. Approximately 1.6 m (5 ft) long, it weighed about 16 kg
(30 lbs), comparable to a large turkey.