Albertadromeus syntarsus is a long name for a quick, tiny, agile dinosaur that ran around Canada 77 million years ago. With roughly the body mass of a modern-day turkey, the discovery of this new species changes notions of the animals that lived in that area toward the end of the Age of Dinosaurs.
Their tiny size makes Albertadromeus the smallest plant-eating dinosaur known to have lived in Canada. Although the creatures were approximately five feet long, they only weighed about 30 pounds.
The recently-discovered species made its home in the province of Alberta in Canada. It was there, in 2009, that researchers found part of the fused hind leg of the ancient reptile, along with other fossilized remains that led them to the realization that this tiny dinosaur was a swift runner. Research continued for three years on the bones before the announcement of the new species was made in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology in their May 2013 issue.
David Evans of the Royal Ontario Museum was the co-author of the paper announcing the discovery. The research was done as part of Evan's on-going collaboration with Michael Ryan of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History studying evolution of North American dinosaurs in the late Creataceous Period.
Dinosaurs at that time and place tended to be large plant-eaters, and the discovery of Albertadromeus is providing new insight into the habitation of dinosaurs of the time.
Fossils from smaller dinosaurs are seen less often then their larger cousins, due to the fact that more fragile skeletons are less well-preserved.
Albertadromeus means "Alberta runner with fused foot bones."
