Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus
Cyprus dwarf hippo | |
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Composite mounted skeleton of H. minor | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Hippopotamidae |
Genus: | Hippopotamus Linnaeus, 1758 |
Species: | †H. minor
|
Binomial name | |
†Hippopotamus minor | |
Synonyms | |
Phanourios minor Sondaar and Boekschoten, 1972 |
The Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus or Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus (Hippopotamus minor or Phanourios minor) is an extinct species of hippopotamus that inhabited the island of Cyprus from the Pleistocene until the early Holocene. The 200-kilogram (440 lb) Cyprus dwarf hippo was roughly the same size as the extant pygmy hippopotamus. Unlike the modern pygmy hippo, the Cyprus dwarf became small through the process of insular dwarfism. H. minor is the smallest hippopotamus of all known insular hippopotamuses.[2] It is estimated to have measured 76 cm (2.5 ft) tall and 121 cm (4.0 ft) long.[3]
Compared to H. amphibius, the muzzle region of the skull is much shorter, and the skull as a whole resembles that of the
Bones of H. minor are associated with human artifacts at the Aetokremnos rockshelter on the southern coast of Cyprus, dating to approximately 12,000 years Before Present, which is suggested by some authors to provide evidence that the Cyprus dwarf hippo was encountered and driven to extinction by the early human residents of Cyprus.[11][12][13] However, these suggestions have been contested, with an alternative proposal that bones at Aetokremnos accumulated naturally over hundreds of years, with the human occupation of the site after the bones were initially deposited.[14][15]
Taxonomy
Many scientists maintain the name Phanourios minor for the Cypriot dwarf hippo. This generic name was given by Paul Sondaar and Bert Boekschoten in 1972,
See also
- Cretan dwarf hippopotamus
- Maltese dwarf hippopotamus
- Sicilian dwarf hippopotamus
- Cyprus dwarf elephant
References
- ^ Desmarest, A.G., 1822. Mammalogie ou description des espèces de mammifères. Mme Veuve Agasse imprimeur édit., Paris, 2ème part., pp.277-555.
- ^ Van der Geer A., Lyras G., De Vos J., Dermitzakis M. 2010. Evolution of Island Mammals: Adaptation and Extinction of Placental Mammals on Islands. Wiley-Blackwell.
- ^ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (6 December 2007). "Dwarf Hippo Fossils Found on Cyprus". Fox Television. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- ^ ISSN 0024-4082.
- ^ S2CID 249709335.
- S2CID 199107354.
- PMID 11724953.
- ^ S2CID 255346580.
- S2CID 181824675.
- S2CID 236959026.
- S2CID 161547871.
- OCLC 41712246.
- S2CID 161791746.
- PMID 26284623.
- S2CID 224982319.
- ^ a b Boekschoten G.J., Sondaar P.Y. 1972. On the fossil mammalia of Cyprus, I & II. Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (Series B), 75 (4): 306–38.
- ^ Bordone B. 1528. Libro di Benedetto Bordone. Nel qual si ragiona di tutte l'Isole del mondo, con li lor nomi antichi & moderni, historie, favole, & modi del loro vivere. Niccolo Zoppino, Venice. In facsimile, Edizioni Aldine, Modena, 1982.