Europasaurus

dinosaurs · island evolution · Jurassic period

Tiny sauropod giant. Europasaurus was a sauropod, a plant-eating dinosaur with a long neck and tail, but it was much smaller than other sauropods of its time. Scientists think it only grew to about 20 feet long, while its relatives could be over 80 feet.

Island living changed it. This dinosaur lived on an island in what is now Germany during the Late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago. Being stuck on an island with limited food, the sauropod population gradually became smaller over many generations, a process called insular dwarfism.

Herbivore with a long neck. Like all sauropods, Europasaurus ate plants and used its long neck to reach leaves high up in trees. Even though it was smaller than other sauropods, it could probably reach places that smaller dinosaurs could not.

Found in Germany. Scientists discovered Europasaurus fossils in northern Germany in rocks from the Lower Saxony basin. The fossils tell us how animals can change and adapt when they live in isolated places cut off from the rest of the world.