![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Azhdarchid_map.png/640px-Azhdarchid_map.png&w=640&q=50)
Hațeg Island
Prehistoric island / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hațeg Island was a large offshore island in the Tethys Sea which existed during the Late Cretaceous period, probably from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian ages.[1] It was situated in an area corresponding to the region around modern-day Hațeg, Hunedoara County, Romania.[2] Maastrichtian fossils of small-sized dinosaurs have been found in the island's rocks.[3][4][5][6] It was formed mainly by tectonic uplift during the early Alpine orogeny, caused by the collision of the African and Eurasian plates towards the end of the Cretaceous.[7] There is no real present-day analog, but overall, the island of Hainan (off the coast of China) is perhaps closest as regards climate, geology and topography, though still not a particularly good match. The vegetation, for example, was of course entirely distinct from today, as was the fauna.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Azhdarchid_map.png/640px-Azhdarchid_map.png)
The Hungarian paleontologist Franz Nopcsa theorized that "limited resources" found on the island commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animals" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism—also known as the island rule—is today widely accepted.[8]