insular dwarfism

[ in-suh-ler dwawr-fiz-uhm, ins-yuh‐ ]

noun

, Biology.

1. the process or result of evolving over many generations from an animal of standard size to one of much reduced size, especially evidenced on islands, where the contained environment limits the species’ range and available resources, as exemplified by the island fox, which inhabits the Channel Islands of California: insular dwarfism also occurs in certain plant species, but the studies of such are relatively limited.

Word History and Origins

Origin of insular dwarfism¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Invoking a process known as insular dwarfism, whereby some large animals get smaller on islands, the team argued that the hobbit was a shrunken H. erectus.

From Scientific American

Shackled by an imperfect fossil record and the realization that insular dwarfism is far from straightforward, difficulties remained.

From Scientific American

"This is the only example in the world where insular dwarfism has arisen twice in hominins."

From Science Magazine

Morwood and colleagues argued that it represented a unique example of insular dwarfism in humans.

From Nature

There are two main hypotheses: either the creature downsized from H. erectus, a human ancestor that lived in Africa and Asia and that is known to have made it to Flores about 800,000 years ago and may have shrunk when it got there—a case of so-called "insular dwarfism" often seen in other animals that get small when they take up residence on islands.

From Science Magazine