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Stocky Predatory Dinosaur Prowled Transylvania

Island species from the past were usually stranger and smaller than close relatives on continental landmasses.

Transylvania was Count Dracula's mythical home, but in reality, this historical region of Romania during the Late Cretaceous was home to a strange predatory dinosaur, according to paleontologists who studied its fossilized bones.

Named Balour bondoc, meaning "stocky dragon," the meat-eating dinosaur lived from around 72 to 65 million years ago. Its skeleton represents the most complete predatory dinosaur from this time in Europe, which was mostly underwater. Romania was an island then.

Island species from the past were usually stranger and smaller than close relatives on continental landmasses, exemplifying what scientists call the "island effect."....

Read entire article at Discovery News