Hațeg (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈhat͡seɡ]; German: Wallenthal; Hungarian: Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 12,507. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad, Silvașu de Jos and Silvașu de Sus.
Țara Hațegului (Hațeg Country) is the region around Hațeg town. The fossils found in the Hațeg Country span over 300 million years of Earth's geologic history, showing tropical coral reefs and volcanic island in the Tethys Sea, dinosaurs, primitive mammals, birds, and flying reptiles (such as Hatzegopteryx, which was named for the region).
The Hațeg Island was an island during the Cretaceous Period where a dwarf species of sauropod dinosaur, Europasaurus holgeri, lived until to their extinction at the end of Cretaceous. Baron Franz Nopcsa, published articles about these Mesozoic era archosaurs on Hațeg Island. His studies led to his theory of insular dwarfism, the notion that "limited resources" on small islands can lead to a down-sizing of the indigenous vertebrate animals.
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