The sister of a palaeontologist discovered the remains of Magyarosaurus dacus in 1895 in Transylvania. The palaeontologist believed that the sauropod, which was only the size of a horse, was in fact a dwarf dinosaur. Now a team of scientists have analysed these bones in detail and discovered that this original supposition is true. Sauropod dinosaurs like humans completely rebuild their skeletons by the time they reach adulthood. Magyarosaurus shows such signs of rebuilding proving it is a dwarf adult and not a juvenile.

The researchers dissected some of the bones to reveal the microanatomy of these 70 million year old fossils. This showed that the sauropod dinosaur, which was about the size of a horse was not a young dinosaur but was actually a dwarf. Other examples of island dwarfs are the elephants and hippopotamuses found on the Mediterranean islands.