Transylvanian Dwarf Dinosaur Unearthed

allthatsinteresting.com...

A New ‘Dwarf Dinosaur’ Species Has Been Unearthed In Transylvania

Dubbed Transylvanosaurus platycephalus in a study published with the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, the newly discovered species was a member of the herbivorous Rhabdodontidae family that lived around 70 million years ago during the Late Cretaceous Period.

Based on bone fragments the researchers found, T. platycephalus measured roughly six-and-a-half feet long, walked on two legs, and had an incredibly powerful tail. It also had a uniquely wide, flat head, as reflected in its scientific name, which literally translates to “flat-headed reptile from Transylvania.”

A 6ft tall flat headed creature that walked around on it's hind legs... Sounds like 'Frankenstein-o'sauras' would have been a fitting name as well.

The discovery of this “dwarf dinosaur” species offers further support for what’s known as the “island rule” — a theory that suggests large animal species who evolve on islands are notably smaller than their mainland counterparts. At the same time, smaller species on these isolated islands grow larger than their counterparts

"Island rule." I had never heard this, but apparently the size of the creature depended on the size of the land mass it was dwelling in, but worked in reverse. Smaller species would become larger than their mainland relatives. So that means a Tyrannosaurus Rex living on an Island would be a mini-T-Rex there.

Interesting theory and discovery. Thought I'd share it with you all for my opening ATS OP.

As study coauthor Felix Augustin tells CNN, “Almost every terrestrial animal on this island was pretty small. An exception were the pterosaurs, some of which reached gigantic body sizes — the reason for this is probably that they could fly and thus were not as severely impacted by the limited resources on the island.”

So anything that could fly would have grown to the larger size that we have seen up to this point.

The bones were found in a riverbed of the Haţeg Basin in Transylvania, which has proven to be one of the most important areas for the discovery of Late Cretaceous vertebrates in Europe. So far, ten separate dinosaur species have been identified in the region.

T. platycephalus would have lived alongside other dwarf dinosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, and flying pterosaurs with wingspans reaching up to over 30 feet, and according to a statement from Augustin, the islands that made up modern-day Europe had a more diverse species population at the time than commonly thought.

Who would have thought Transylvanian would have been such a hotspot for dinosaur discovery? But then again, it does makes some sense given the history of so many weird stories coming from there.

So there you have it folks. Mini-Transylvanian-dinosaurs.

Excellent OP!

It always amazes me where these dinosaurs are found to have lived. Places around the world so completely different ... with animal populations that baffle the mind.

A silly part of me 'went to the place in my mind' where I imagined "pet-sized" dinosaurs... but 6 feet sounds like a bit much for a pet.

Nice find!

a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle
Nice first post. But this is going to be zoology as opposed to cryptozoolology 👍

a reply to: Maxmars

A silly part of me 'went to the place in my mind' where I imagined "pet-sized" dinosaurs... but 6 feet sounds like a bit much for a pet.

Ya know, with cloning and everything we have going on today, I can see "pet dinosaurs" as a possible new trend in the future.
The little child in my mind is already picking out a spiked collar.

Thanks, Maxmars!

originally posted by: vance
a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle
Nice first post. But this is going to be zoology as opposed to cryptozoolology 👍

No worries. I actually wasn't exactly sure where to post this one.
Thanks.

a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle

"Island rule." I had never heard this

You might enjoy this discovery in 2004 then:

Oct. 27, 2004 — -- Once upon a time, on an isolated island of Indonesia, there lived a colony of little people -- very little people.

Not only did anthropologists find the skeletal remains of a hobbit-sized, 30-year-old adult female, in this fairy-tale-like discovery they also uncovered in the same limestone cave the remains of a Komodo dragon, stone tools and a dwarf elephant.

Subsequent finds of other similarly sized, 3-foot-tall humans with brains the size of grapefruits in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest these 18,000-year-old specimens weren't a quirk of an ancient hominin, but part of an entire species of miniature people whose existence overlapped with that of modern Homo sapiens.

[abcnews.go.com...]

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle

"Island rule." I had never heard this

You might enjoy this discovery in 2004 then:

Oct. 27, 2004 — -- Once upon a time, on an isolated island of Indonesia, there lived a colony of little people -- very little people.

Not only did anthropologists find the skeletal remains of a hobbit-sized, 30-year-old adult female, in this fairy-tale-like discovery they also uncovered in the same limestone cave the remains of a Komodo dragon, stone tools and a dwarf elephant.

Subsequent finds of other similarly sized, 3-foot-tall humans with brains the size of grapefruits in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores suggest these 18,000-year-old specimens weren't a quirk of an ancient hominin, but part of an entire species of miniature people whose existence overlapped with that of modern Homo sapiens.

[abcnews.go.com...]

Wow, so yes, you just blew my doors off. I had never heard this one either. Thanks a bunch, nugget1!

a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle

You're most welcome.

Only 29.2% of our earth's land mass has been explored, so there's a lot for the imagination to play with. Even more so with the oceans, where less than 10% has been explored.

a reply to: BodhisattvaStyle

As a short person, I support my dwarf dinosaur comrades.

They bring glory to the people!

a reply to: Maxmars

a hundred MILLION years, is a long time to evolve
we only been here roughly 15,000 years at best

a reply to: cappie

Actually modern human skeletons have been found to be dating back to 150,000 years...

Of course we only have recorded history back to a fraction of that.