Hațeg Island (SciiFii)

Hațeg Island (Romanian: Insula Hațeg; Hațegese: Inzula Hațek) is a large offshore island that was once in the Tethys Sea which existed during the late Cretaceous period, probably from the Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian ages, but has been copied in modern times by SciiFii, thanks to the advanced artificial island building techniques and careful research by scientists, who introduced the de-extinct animals that existed in the old Hațeg Island. Hațeg Island lies 80 km (50 mi) south of Malta and is roughly 80,000 square kilometres (31,000 sq mi), or about the size of the island of Hispaniola. Hațeg Island itself is surrounded primarily by a deep marine basin, unlike some of the surrounding islands of the Mediterranean which are surrounded by shallow seas. The climate of Hațeg Island is subtropical, with an average temperature of 20–25 °C (68–77 °F). The island experiences marked rainy and dry seasons, but despite this, the plant life on the island is mainly tropical in nature, but the island also has "dry woodland" conditions. This seeming contradiction between the seasonally dry climate and tropical plant species can be explained by the fact that tropical plants can thrive in a seasonally monsoonal environment as long as they have access to sufficient amounts of water year-round, and the Hațeg environment is dominated by braided rivers and lakes. Many different species of small-sized non-avian dinosaurs live on the island, although there are other indigenous species that are also native to the island as well, including small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and many other countless species. There is no other present-day analog, but overall, the island of Hainan (off the coast of China) is perhaps closest as regards climate, geology and topography, though still not a particularly good match. The vegetation, for example, is of course entirely distinct from plants from elsewhere, as is the fauna. The paleontologists, scientists, and conservationists theorized that "limited resources" found on the island commonly have an effect of "reducing the size of animals" over the generations, producing a localized form of dwarfism. Nopcsa's theory of insular dwarfism—also known as the island rule—is today widely accepted. The capital city of Hațeg Island is New Sicily, which is one of the largest cities in the world, comparable in size to Los Angeles. The majority of the species of the island are protected by the conservationists and are currently not threatened to (re-)extinction. Although a few modern small mammals and birds have been intentionally introduced (or in the case of some of those introduced birds, spread naturally) to Hațeg Island to boost biodiversity, which are not invasive and have become part of the island's biodiversity, there are populations of quaggas, pygmy mammoths, and Chinese rhinoceroses in small portions of Hațeg Island, most likely due to illegal black markets or accidental zoo releases. However, these populations are limited in certain areas and there are actions taken to make sure their populations don't explode and outcompete the native non-avian herbivorous dinosaurs.