Just like Masiakasaurus, Struthiosaurus also lived during the Late Cretaceous Period. Also like Masiakasaurus, Struthiosaurus was small. But Struthiosaurus was small in a very different way than Masiakasaurus. Remember when we talked about island/insular dwarfism in the context of the Channel Island fox?
Well, island dwarfism is back, in all of its glory! A brief refresher,
island dwarfism is what sometimes happens to animals that have become
trapped on islands. Over many generations, they shrink in order to
match the limited food supply. If there is a
limited supply of food, then the smallest of your species, not the
largest, are much more likely to survive. Another factor that often
helps island dwarfs is that predation is typically not as intense on
islands as compared to mainlands, but that is not always the case.
Anyways, around 75 MYA, global sea levels were much higher. In North America, we had the Western Interior Seaway dividing the continent, while Europe was simply reduced to a number of individual islands, one of which is now known as Hațeg Island. And, if you are any good at guessing how stories end, you can probably see where this is going. Yes, Struthiosaurus was an island-dwarf! He is also really cool because he is an ankylosaur,
a group of dinosaurs that are incredibly interesting! Another thing
that I absolutely have to mention here pertains to the picture of Struthiosaurus that
we have below. This picture was drawn by an incredibly
talented young artist named Sam Lippincott. Only in eighth grade, he is
well on his way to achieving artistic greatness! Below are some more
pictures of his, all of them absolutely fantastic! He made these
pictures for my last lecture and I have the Struthiosaurus and Magyarosaurus pictures framed on my wall, I love them so much! Let's all give Sam a round of applause!
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| Struthiosaurus, an ankylosaur, by Sam Lippincott |
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| Telmatosaurus, a hadrosaur, by Sam Lippincott |
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| Magyarosaurus, a sauropod, by Sam Lippincott |
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| Hatzegopteryx, a pterosaur, by Sam Lippincott |
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| Europasaurus, another dwarf sauropod dinosaur, but from an island other than Hațeg Island |
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