Bone histology indicates insular dwarfism in a new Late Jurassic sauropod dinosaur

P. Martin Sander (), Octávio Mateus (), Thomas Laven and Nils Knötschke
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P. Martin Sander: University of Bonn
Octávio Mateus: Centro de Estudos Geológicos da Universidade Nova de Lisboa and Museu da Lourinhã, Rua João Luis de Moura
Thomas Laven: Dinosaurier-Freilichtmuseum Münchehagen
Nils Knötschke: Dinosaurier-Freilichtmuseum Münchehagen

Nature, 2006, vol. 441, issue 7094, 739-741

Abstract: A small dinosaur in Germany The idea that dwarf species tend to evolve among island populations has received recent publicity in the context of Homo floresiensis and the dwarf animals (mainly elephants) found on the island of Flores. Now it seems that the same thing may have happened with sauropod dinosaurs. Newly discovered fossils from northern Germany have been identified as dwarf adult sauropods, possibly evolved on islands in the Lower Saxony basin from their larger mainland cousins. Sauropods were previously considered almost universally large — they include Diplodocus and Titanosaurus for example — and any small sauropod bones were assumed to be juvenile. In these new finds though, the bone histology suggests that they were adults.

Date: 2006
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DOI: 10.1038/nature04633

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