Insular dwarfism is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals — typically mammals but also dinosaurs — when their population's gene pool is limited to a very small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is distinct from the intentional creation of dwarf breeds, called dwarfing.
There is also an inverse process, island gigantism, wherein small animals breeding on isolated islands lacking the predators of large land masses may become much larger than normal. An excellent example is the dodo, the ancestors of which were normal sized pigeons. There are also several species of giant rats, some extinct and some still extant.
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