Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamidae Temporal range: Miocene-Recent
Late | |
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Common hippopotamus
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Pygmy hippopotamus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Suborder: | Whippomorpha |
Superfamily: | Hippopotamoidea
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Family: | Hippopotamidae Gray, 1821 |
Subtaxa | |
†Trilobophorus Geze, 1985
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Hippopotamidae is a
There are two living species of hippopotamid in two genera; the pygmy hippo,
Characteristics
Hippopotamids are large mammals, with short, stumpy legs, and barrel-shaped bodies. They have large heads, with broad mouths, and nostrils placed at the top of their snouts. Like pigs, they have four toes, but unlike pigs, all of the toes are used in walking. Hippopotamids are
The living species are smooth-skinned and lack both
Both the
Dentition |
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2–3.1.4.3 |
1–3.1.4.3 |
Evolution
The hippopotamids are descended from the
There were once many species of hippopotamid, but only two survive today: Hippopotamus amphibius, and Choeropsis liberiensis. They are the last survivors of two major
The enigmatic
Taxonomy
Hippopotamidae's placement within
Artiodactyla
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Analogous structures
The lower canine teeth of hippopotamids are similar in function and structure to the tusks of elephants. While hippopotamids and elephants are only very distantly related within the Mammalia, the lower canine teeth of both groups are long and have a slight curve, and species of both families use this structure when fighting.
Species
The systematics and taxonomy used here mostly follows a review by J.-R. Boisserie[9][a] and the American Society of Mammalogists.[10]
Recent species
- Genus Hippopotamus – true hippopotamuses
- Hippopotamus amphibius – hippopotamus (Africa)
- †Hippopotamus lemerlei – Lemerle's dwarf hippopotamus (Madagascar; Holocene)
- †Hippopotamus madagascariensis – Madagascan dwarf hippopotamus (Madagascar; Holocene)
- Genus Choeropsis– pygmy hippopotamuses
- Choeropsis liberiensis – pygmy hippopotamus (west Africa)
Fossil species
- Genus Hippopotamus – true hippopotamuses
- †Hippopotamus antiquus – mainland Europe & British Isles; Pleistocene
- †Hippopotamus creutzburgi – Crete; Pleistocene
- †
- †Hippopotamus melitensis – Malta; Pleistocene
- †Hippopotamus pentlandi – Sicily; Pleistocene
- †Hippopotamus laloumena – Madagascar; Holocene
- †Middle Pleistocene
- Tentatively placed into Hippopotamus:
- †Hippopotamus aethiopicus – Kenya & Ethiopia; Pliocene -Pleistocene
- †Hippopotamus afarensis – Ethiopia, formerly genus Trilobophorus; Pliocene
- †Hippopotamus behemoth – Israel, Early Pleistocene
- †Hippopotamus kaisensis – Central Africa; Pliocene
- †; Pleistocene
- Genus Hexaprotodon – hexaprotodons or Asian hippopotamuses
- †Hexaprotodon bruneti – Ethiopia; Pliocene
- †Hexaprotodon coryndoni – Ethiopia; Pliocene
- †Hexaprotodon crusafonti – Spain; Late Miocene (syn. Hexaprotodon primaevus)
- †Hexaprotodon hipponensis – Algeria
- †Hexaprotodon imagunculus – Uganda and Congo; Pliocene
- †Hexaprotodon iravaticus – Myanmar; Pliocene – Pleistocene
- †Hexaprotodon karumensis – Kenya and Eritrea; Pleistocene
- †Hexaprotodon namadicus – India; (possibly same as Hex. palaeindicus)
- †Hexaprotodon palaeindicus – India;
- †Hexaprotodon pantanellii – Italy; Pliocene
- †Hexaprotodon protamphibius – Kenya and Chad; Pliocene
- †Hexaprotodon siculus –
- †Hexaprotodon sivajavanicus – Indonesia
- †Hexaprotodon sivalensis– India
- †Hexaprotodon sp. (undescribed) – Myanmar
- Genus Archaeopotamus – formerly included in Hexaprotodon
- †Archaeopotamus harvardi – Arabian Peninsula and Central Africa; Miocene – Pliocene
- †Archaeopotamus lothagamensis – Kenya; Miocene
- One or two undescribed species
- Genus Saotherium – formerly included in Hexaprotodon
- †Saotherium mingoz Chad; Pliocene
Footnotes
References
- ISBN 0-87196-871-1.
- S2CID 239713930.
- .
- ^
Beck, N.R. (2006). "A higher-level MRP supertree of placental mammals". BMC Evol Biol. 6: 93. PMID 17101039.
- ^
O'Leary, M.A.; Bloch, J.I.; Flynn, J.J.; Gaudin, T.J.; Giallombardo, A.; Giannini, N.P.; et al. (2013). "The placental mammal ancestor and the post-K-Pg radiation of placentals". Science. 339 (6120): 662–667. S2CID 206544776.
- ^
Song, S.; Liu, L.; Edwards, S.V.; Wu, S. (2012). "Resolving conflict in eutherian mammal phylogeny using phylogenomics and the multispecies coalescent model". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 109 (37): 14942–14947. PMID 22930817.
- ^
dos Reis, M.; Inoue, J.; Hasegawa, M.; Asher, R.J.; Donoghue, P.C.J.; Yang, Z. (2012). "Phylogenomic datasets provide both precision and accuracy in estimating the timescale of placental mammal phylogeny". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 279 (1742): 3491–3500. PMID 22628470.
- ^
Upham, N.S.; Esselstyn, J.A.; Jetz, W. (2019). "Inferring the mammal tree: Species-level sets of phylogenies for questions in ecology, evolution, and conservation". PLOS Biology. 17 (12): e3000494. PMID 31800571; (see fig S10).
- ^ a b Boisserie, Jean-Renaud (2005). "The phylogeny and taxonomy of Hippopotamidae (Mammalia: Artiodactyla): A review based on morphology and cladistic analysis". .
- ^ Upham, Nathan; Burgin, Connor; Widness, Jane; Liphardt, Schuyler; Parker, Camila; Becker, Madeleine; et al. (10 August 2021) [2004]. "Mammal Diversity Database" (vers. 1.6). . Retrieved 28 August 2021.
Further reading
- "Hippopotamidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 11 August 2004.
- Petronio, C. (1995). "Note on the taxonomy of Pleistocene hippopotamuses" (PDF). Ibex. 3: 53–55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 September 2008.