Insular Dwarfism and Gigantism

The moa-nalo are a group of now extinct aberrant, goose-like ducks (or duck-like goose) that once lived on some the larger Hawaiian Islands ...

Voles are small rodents that are relatives of lemmings and hamsters, but with a somewhat stouter body. In comparison with its family members...

The shaggy soft-haired mouse (Abrothrix hirta) changes in size based on which side of the Andes Mountains the individual lives on [1] . ...

The Russian island of Sakhalin lies north of the Japanese archipelago. During the Qing dynasty, the island was once part of China, but later...

Insular gigantism and insular dwarfism has occured (and is occuring) on isolated islands. If there are no predators and enough food, mammals...

Maclear's rat (Rattus macleari) is also known as Christmas Island rat. It is an extinct large rat only endemic on the remote Christmas I...

Soem 200,000 years ago, Sicily was home to two different miniature elephants, Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis and the Sicilian dwarf elephant (P...

Like its name suggests, Lord Howe Island Stick Insects (Dryococelus australis) is a species of stick insect that (used to) live on Lord How...

If you think dat insular gigantism is a thing of the past, you would be very wrong. The coconut crab (Birgus latro) is a thing that can inv...

Never heard of it, would probably be your first reaction, but cloud rats (Phloeomys) do exist. At present, there are (probably) 18 differen...

In 'The Adventure of the Sussex Vampire', published in 1924, Sherlock Holmes already made a passing remark about the Flores Giant Ra...

Nearly all of Madagascan megafauna - including the famous Dodo, gorilla-sized lemurs, giant tortoises, and the Elephant Bird which stood thr...

The name Maltese Giant Swan (Cygnus falconeri) is a bit of a misnomer because remains have also been found on the nearby island of Sicily. ...

A team of paleontologists has created the first digital reconstruction of the skull of the Maltese Giant Dormouse (Leithia melitensis) , an ...

Mammoth is a term used to describe the various species and subspecies from the now extinct genus elephantid mammuthus that existed from the...

Ever wondered what mammoths and mastodons used to eat? Well, since these species of extinct megafauna were herbivores they obviously ate lar...

The Falkland Islands wolf (Dusicyon australis) , also known as warrah or Antarctic wolf, was the only native land mammal of the Falkland Isl...

The Channel Island Fox (Urocyon littoralis) is a small fox (or rather foxes) that is (are) native to six of the Channel Islands of Californ...

Scientists have shown to be true what JRR Tolkien only imagined in the Lord of the Rings: giant, slow-reproducing trees play an outsized rol...

Gough Island (also known as Ilha de Gonçalo Álvares) is a remote British Overseas Territory, a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic ...

Isla de Congreso (or Congreso Island) measures just 0.256 square kilometers and is part of the small Spanish archipellago of the Islas Chafa...

The more isolated an island, the more likely a species will develop island gigantism. Manus Island is the main island of the Admiralty Is...

Now, a popular tourist destination, the island of Tenerife once was home to the fearsome Tenerife giant rat (Canariomys bravoi) . This rat i...

To be absolutely clear: the Channel Islands Dwarf Mammoth has not lived and died on the European Channel Islands, situated between England e...

Sheep are herbivores and exist on a diet of grass, clover, herbs and other plants that grow in their pasture. But what happens if food suppl...

When remains of several Homo floresiensis ('Flores man') were discovered in 2003 on the Indonesian island of Flores, scientists we...

The Irish Giant Deer ( Megaloceros giganteus ) also called the giant deer or giant elk, is an extinct species of deer in the genus Megalocer...