Chicken-sized dinosaur species discovered in Spain

When you think of dinosaurs, you might imagine a huge T-rex or a horned triceratops.

But now, researchers have identified a new, tiny species - about the size of a chicken - in Burgos in northern Spain.

The mini dino has been named Foskeia pelendonum, and it's believed to have lived around 130 million years ago, during the Early Cretaceous period.

Experts say it was only around 30cm tall and 60cm long, including its tail and it's skull could fit in the palm of your hand.

But even though it was small, it's teaching scientists big things about how a group of plant-eating dinosaurs, known as ornithischian dinosaurs, evolved.

Around 800 well-preserved fossilised bones from the dinosaurs have been discovered so far.

In the study, published in Papers in Palaeontology, something that stood out to researchers was its unusual skull and special teeth.

Fidel Torcida, who is director of the Dinosaur Museum of Salas de los Infantes in Burgos, said: "This animal evolved to lose the ability to chew in the front part of the mouth and to reinforce it in the back part."

He added that this was "quite strange" compared to other dinos like it.

The fossilised bones were also studied under a microscope by researchers at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in Belgium.

This gave them important clues that the species grew up quickly and had lots of energy - a bit like a bird or a small mammal.

Because of this, they say it was probably fast and agile, relying on short bursts of speed to move through thick forest habitats.

Researchers have said the discovery of the new, tiny species is a bit like finding the missing piece of a puzzle.

Thierry Tortosa, a researcher from Sainte Victoire Natural Reserve, said: "Foskeia helps fill a 70-million-year gap, a small key that unlocks a vast missing chapter."