Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus

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Cyprus dwarf hippo
Temporal range:
Ma
Composite mounted skeleton of H. minor
Scientific classification Edit this 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]

Cyprus dwarf elephant, were the only large mammals native to the islands, and one of only four native terrestrial mammal species, alongside the still living Cypriot mouse and the extinct genet species Genetta plesictoides,[6] and had no natural predators.[7]

Compared to H. amphibius, the muzzle region of the skull is much shorter, and the skull as a whole resembles that of the

glacial cycle-induced climatic changes.[9] Analysis of the limb and hand bones suggests that it was more terrestrial than its living relatives, and capable of moving on the rugged terrain of Cyprus, with changes including the shortening of the distal (closest to foot) part of the legs, and increased robustness of the limb bones.[10][5]

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

Skull and jaw of a Cypriot dwarf hippo

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,

Phanourios (saint)), a Greek Orthodox saint who, according to local myth, had fled from Syria to escape his persecutors, but had been stranded on the hostile rocky coast of Cyprus. The collected bones are ground into a powder believed to have medicinal powers. To honour the local tradition and to refer to the site, Sondaar and Boekschoten named their new genus Phanourios, following the Greek spelling. They gave the specific name minutus, but this was later changed to minor following rules of priority.[16] Other authors contend that the genus Hippopotamus should be maintained for the species, because it descends from other members of the Hippopotamus genus.[4][8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Desmarest, A.G., 1822. Mammalogie ou description des espèces de mammifères. Mme Veuve Agasse imprimeur édit., Paris, 2ème part., pp.277-555.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ Hadjicostis, Menelaos (6 December 2007). "Dwarf Hippo Fossils Found on Cyprus". Fox Television. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
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  16. ^ 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.
  17. ^ 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.