Newly identified dinosaur that lived on island of dwarfed creatures had an unusual head

CNN ^ | November 28, 2022 | Katie Hunt,

[BenLurkin]

Discovered in what’s now western Romania, the Transylvanosaurus platycephalus (flatheaded reptile from Transylvania) was 2 meters (6 feet) long — a relatively small size for a dinosaur, according to a new study. Its skull bones were unearthed in 2007 in a riverbed of the Haţeg Basin.

In the Cretaceous Period, this region of Romania was a tropical archipelago. Dinosaurs living there were smaller than their relatives elsewhere; paleontologists think these dinosaurs were an example of what biologists call “island rule,” where large animals isolated on islands become dwarfed or stunted in their growth over time and small animals become larger.

Sauropods, the largest type of dinosaurs that have ever lived, reached average heights of a puny 6 meters (nearly 20 feet) on the archipelago, for example, compared with 15 to 20 meters (49.2 to 65.6 feet) typical for the group.

[Bikkuri]

Related to the Lickalotapuss?

[frank ballenger]

Not unusual to his mom.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Barney-Train-Conductor-Hat-ages-2-up/955239043

[Fester Chugabrew]

In before the James Carville reference.

[jdsteel]

Huge reptiles were only possible thanks to the lush vegetation of an atmosphere rich in CO2.

[sit-rep]

lol... gotta tread lightly with that one though!! if thats indeed the truth, then we should have some kind of measuring device esatblished! dont wanna have and close encounters with any T-Rexs anytime soon!!

[EvilCapitalist]

You mean old snakehead?

[airborne]

It does have a snake head appearance!

[Jewbacca]

Hillarryadaurus from Manhattan

[No name given]

Please don’t tell me it was related to that obnoxious purple freak of nature Barney.

[GaltAdonis]

[going hot]

Nice pic. Wonder who graded the road.

[going hot]

Nice pic. Wonder who graded the road.

[GaltAdonis]

An overweight triceratops maybe?

[ifinnegan]

So funny.

[Tucker39]

They’ve constructed an entire animal, and wrote a history of it bases on a literal handful of bone fragments? Not worthy of comment!

[martin_fierro]

[Johnny Wumbo]

Had an unusual head? Should’ve named it the Adam-Schiffasaurus

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks BenLurkin. I wonder who was first to triceratops?

[SunkenCiv]

That’s what she said.