A woolly mammoth and a dwarf mammoth.
Insular Dwarfism is the biological phenomenon in which some large animals, with a limited amount of space or other resources, will shrink in size. Despite the term using "island" in the name, a physical island isn't necessary for this phenomenon to appear. Habitats such as caves, mountains, or any other secluded environment can be defined as biological islands and have cases in which animals get smaller here as well.
The most famous extinct examples of this are the Dwarf Sicilian Elephant, Telmatosaurus, Struthiosaurus, Pelecanimimus, Pygmy mammoth and Magyarosaurus. This is one of the main oppositions of Cope's Law, which proposes animals will always get larger.[1]
Notable Dwarf Species Examples[]
- Japanese wolf
- Magyarosaurus
- Malagasy hippopotamus
- Pygmy mammoth
- Struthiosaurus
- Zanzibar leopard
- Homo floresiensis (possibly)
- Ampelosaurus
- Europasaurus
- Lirainosaurus
- Paludititan
- Langenberg Quarry Torvosaur
- Telmatosaurus
- Thecodontosaurus
- Zalmoxes
- Apteribis glenos
- Cozumel curassow