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Dwarf Dinosaur Found

Started by afreethinker30, June 25, 2008, 04:10:00 AM

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afreethinker30

QuoteMyth of Dwarf Dinos in Dracula Country Confirmed
Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News

June 13, 2008 -- In 1900, the sister of an eccentric Austro-Hungarian aristocrat named Baron von Nopsca found a tiny bone on the baron's family estate in Transylvania, a historical region in present-day Romania. The baron, who was a dinosaur buff, identified the bone as belonging to a dwarf dino that likely once lived on an island in the region.

The motorcycle-riding baron's outrageous theories were ridiculed and largely dismissed, but now new evidence suggests his proposed island of dwarf dinosaurs did indeed exist in the land of the mythical, blood-drinking Count Dracula.

"Bram Stoker's [Dracula] tale is without a very sustainable historical background, but that is not the case here," lead researcher Vlad Codrea told Discovery News.

Dwarfed Bones Support the Claims

Codrea, a professor of biology and geology at University Babes-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, and colleague Pascal Godefroit recently found several bones belonging to Zalmoxes shqiperorum, an herbivorous dinosaur with forelimbs that were much shorter than its hindlimbs.

The findings have been accepted for publication in the journal Comptes Rendus Palevol.

"Obviously it was a dwarf dinosaur," said Codrea, who compared the dinosaur to its Rhabdodon relatives from southern France and northern Spain. Rhabdodon, meaning "fluted tooth," measured just over 14 feet long, which, in itself, is a relatively small size for a dinosaur. Zalmoxes, on the other hand, was only 7 to 10 feet long.

The dwarf dinosaur has been classified as belonging to the iguanodont dinosaur group. These Mid Jurassic to Late Cretaceous animals included duck-billed dinos. Some members of the group could weigh up to eight tons and reach 50 feet in length.

Codrea and Godefroit unearthed the newly found bones in a red clay deposit at the Jibou Formation in Somes Odorhei, Romania.

More Mini Dinosaurs

The small Romanian dinosaur was apparently not a loner.

"Zalmoxes had in Transylvania select dinosaur company," Codrea said. "All were dwarves."

He explained that after the initial discovery on Nopsca's estate, the baron set off on his motorcycle to excavate various parts of his homeland. Over the years he found bones belonging to multiple dwarfed species.

These included a sauropod named Magyarosaurus dacus, which looked like a tiny version of a brontosaurus or diplodocus, and the ankylosaur Strutiosaurus transilvanicus, whose body was covered by many tiny bones that formed a protective shield.

A duck-billed dinosaur called Telmatosaurus transylvanicus was also excavated in the area, along with several carnivorous dinos, such as Velociraptorinae indet, Euronychodon and Paronychodon.

The Island Effect

Although many scientists scoffed at the notion of tiny dinosaurs inhabiting Transylvania, imminent paleontologist David Weishampel, fresh out of graduate school, became intrigued by the baron's finds, which he investigated first-hand in Romania.

Weishampel, who now works in the Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at Johns Hopkins University, came to the conclusion that Nopsca was right -- very small dinosaurs really did live in Romania during the Late Cretaceous (around 70 to 65 million years ago).

He also agreed with the baron's theory that life in isolation on an island, which Weishampel has named Hateg Island, led to the dino dwarfism.


http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/06/13/transylvania-dinosaur.html

Evolved

Cool article.  I didn't realize that dinosaurs were so prevalent in that area.

On a related note, scientists have recently found evidence that dinosaurs read books:

 :D
"Gods are fragile things; they may be killed by a whiff of science or a dose of common sense."
Chapman Cohen

afreethinker30

Quote from: "Evolved"Cool article.  I didn't realize that dinosaurs were so prevalent in that area.

On a related note, scientists have recently found evidence that dinosaurs read books:

 :D

leftyguitarjoe

But dinasaurs didnt exist!!

Their fossils were put here to test our faith........

 roflol

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

afreethinker30

Quote from: "leftyguitarjoe"But dinasaurs didnt exist!!

Their fossils were put here to test our faith........

 roflol

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!

But wait the bones were put there by evil atheist scientist to break down the great and holy fundies...No wait that's wrong the dinosaurs were on earth at the same time man was...And Jesus would ride and ride a T-Rex on Noah's Ark...Oh fun times.And man tamed the T-Rex he taught him to do tricks and pull wagons.And then man got sick and tired of working a second job to feed Rexxie,so man took Rexxie behind the barn and put a bullet thru his head.


leftyguitarjoe

Quote from: "afreethinker30"
Quote from: "leftyguitarjoe"But dinasaurs didnt exist!!

Their fossils were put here to test our faith........

 :(  :(

its a touching story, really. Got me just like old yeller did. :P

afreethinker30

Quote from: "leftyguitarjoe"
Quote from: "afreethinker30"
Quote from: "leftyguitarjoe"But dinasaurs didnt exist!!

Their fossils were put here to test our faith........

 :(  :(

its a touching story, really. Got me just like old yeller did. :P

Well then you might enjoy this. [youtube:iqyhvs6a]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R370YkYhV0w[/youtube:iqyhvs6a]