Hațeg

Hațeg (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈhat͡seɡ]; German: Wallenthal; Hungarian: Hátszeg) is a town in Hunedoara County, Romania with a population of 9,340. Three villages are administered by the town: Nălațvad (Nalácvád), Silvașu de Jos (Alsószilvás), and Silvașu de Sus (Felsőszilvás).

History

In 1765, the settlement was completely militarised and integrated into the II-nd Border Company of the I-st Border Regiment from Orlați, until 1851, when that unit was disbanded.

Geology

Țara Hațegului (the Hațeg Country) is the region around the town of Hațeg. The fossils found in the Hațeg area 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).

Hațeg Island was an island during the Cretaceous Period where a dwarf species of sauropod dinosaur, Magyarosaurus dacus, lived until their extinction at the end of the 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.