Scientists Discover Dwarf Dinosaur Fossils In Germany

[matcom]

<snip>

NEW YORK -- German scientists have discovered a species of long-lost dinosaur that was just one-third the size of its closest relative.

Researchers think those dinosaurs underwent what's called island dwarfism. That's when big species tend to shrink over generations on an island.

They believe it roamed some 154 million years ago in what's now northern Germany.

But even a dwarf dinosaur would be a force to be reckoned with, were it still around today. Scientists think it weighed about a ton and measured some 20 feet from the snout to the tip of its tail.

http://www.wftv.com/technology/9335781/detail.html

[Squeech]

1. WTF

Island dwarfism? How then do they account for the Great Irish Deer?

The Galapagos tortoises are the largest in the world, and I think the Galapagos iguanas are too.

(OTOH their penguins are the smallest, but that has to do with all the other penguins needing to retain body heat in polar climates.)

I'm being especially argumentative because I just don't see any merit in this dwarfism concept.

[Bossy Monkey]

2. Especially large animals tend to get smaller, because of the lack of

provender (eg pygmy mammoths), small animals tend to get larger due to the lack of predators (giant rats, Galapagos tortoises). http://www.nps.gov/chis/pygmy.htm
http://www.sbnature.org/exhibits/geopaleo/index.htm