New dinosaur species discovered in Portugal

Portuguese and Spanish paleontologists have discovered a new species of dinosaur, the smallest in Portugal, researchers involved in the discovery have revealed.

"It's one of the smallest on record in Portugal and probably the smallest of herbivorous dinosaurs, because it belongs to one of the smallest groups at a global level and because it probably wasn't yet an adult," Xinhua cited Portuguese Lusa News Agency as quoting researcher Fernando Escasso Tuesday.

Escasso is one of the researchers in a team involved in the discovery associated with the National History Society of Torres Vedras, the University of Lisbon and the University of Madrid.

After studying the findings of studies made in 1999 and travelling to America to observe fossils of this era, the scientists concluded that there were differences between them - leading them to classify a new species of dinosaur.

"The fossils we discovered possess a smaller finger... The finding enabled us to corroborate the hypothesis effectively that it is a small finger in this species and probably in the whole group," Escasso told Lusa.

The fossils, comprising a partial skeleton of the tail, of the pelvic girdle and of the hind paws, belongs to the Natural History Society of Torres Vedras.