Island Shrinks Dinosaurs!

For eight years, scientists thought the tiny bones they found in a quarry in Germany belonged to young dinosaurs. The little thighbones, a skull, teeth, and other fossilized remains added up to a perfect pack of miniature sauropods, those huge long-necks that weighed a ton when full-grown. When researchers recently analyzed the bones, however, they found that these minis, most no larger than cars, were adults.

Turns out that 150 million years ago, the place these little guys, named Europasaurus, lived was an island in a vast prehistoric sea. The scientists now believe that while the little dinos' ancestors may have been full-size, the species slowly shrank over the generations because of limited food on the island. This is called island dwarfism, and other cases of it-including elephants the size of dogs-have long been known. This is the first time, however, that dwarfed dinos have turned up.

-Meg Moss

Copyright Carus Publishing Company Nov/Dec 2007
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved