insular dwarfism

American  

[in-suh-ler dwawr-fiz-uhm, ins-yuh‐] / ˈɪn sə lər ˈdwɔr fɪz əm, ˈɪns yə‐ /

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.

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Etymology

Origin of insular dwarfism

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

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

From Science Magazine • Aug. 2, 2018

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

From Nature • Oct. 21, 2014