Comments on: Dwarf Hippo Fossils Discovered

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:20:26 +0000

Interesting…..

And cuuuuute!!!

By: Sordes

Sordes — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 19:32:46 +0000

No, it was no volcanic island.

By: Saint Vitus

Saint Vitus — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:49:30 +0000

Cyprus was never physically linked to any other land mass? Is it a volcanic island?

By: Sordes

Sordes — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:40:16 +0000

Well, pygmy hippos from cyprus are known since many decades, this is no new discovery.

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:08:07 +0000

I am not surprised that hippos would adapt to be smaller in an island environment. I won’t delve into details here, but the “islandization” of species, where they tend to evolve smaller, more miniaturized forms in island habitats is a well documented phenomenon.

More news involving these tricky fossils. It is reports like these that put more nails into the argument that lack of fossil evidence equals lack of a creature ever existing in a place. I have no doubt the future holds its fair share of surprising and interesting fossil discoveries.

By: Sordes

Sordes — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 12:46:48 +0000

Hippos were in several cases among the only big animals which arrived on islands. Together with some elephants and deer, which can also cross several miles over the sea, the hippos colonized several islands of the prehistoric Mediteranean sea and evolved into pygmy forms.

Madagascar was also colonized at least three times by hippos which evolved into different species, two small amphibious species and one small terrestrial species, Hippopotamus madagascariensis.

Hippos normally don´t swim, but sometimes they float from rivers to the sea. In one case a hippo even managed to swim to Zanzibar.