A new species of dwarf dinosaur has been discovered in Transylvania. Its special feature: an extraordinarily flat head!
It’s not the skeleton of Dracula, but a new species of dinosaur dinosaurs that paleontologists have discovered in the Romanian region of Transylvania. A dinosaur with an intriguing morphology. As the name suggests, Transylvanosaurus platycephalus had an exceptionally flat and broad head. This small herbivorous herbivorous dinosaur that lived 70 million years ago would have been only two meters long. A dwarf size compared to the giants that populated the world at the same time.
Europe at the end of the Cretaceous: an archipelago with a tropical climate
So far regarded as a family of little diversified dwarf dinosaurs, the Rhabdodontidae are nevertheless one of the special features of Transylvania. The region where Transylvanosaurus was discovered is also known as the “Island of the Miniature Dinosaurs”. Indeed, at that time, Europe must be imagined as a vast underwater area with a tropical climate, dotted with a multitude of small islands.
To explain the astonishing morphological difference of Transylvanosaurus compared to the other members of its family, the researchers conjure up an isolated evolution, certainly on one of the islands dotting the region. Fluctuations in water levels may in fact have temporarily created land bridges that allowed the spread of Rhabdodontidae and their progressive diversification. For the researchers, it is also not excluded that Transylvanosaurus simply swam to other islands, the physiognomy of its legs and tail suggest that this small dinosaur must have felt comfortable in the water.
An amazing variety of small dinosaurs
On its island, Transylvanosaurus was accompanied by crocodiles, turtles, but also giant pterosaurs, a type of flying dinosaur with a wingspan of up to 10 meters.
A total of 10 different species have been discovered in Transylvania, suggesting that, contrary to what was assumed a few years ago, the European fauna of the Late Cretaceous was not so undiversified at the time.
The results of the study were published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.