Maltese Hippopotamus
Encyclopedia
Hippopotamus melitensis is an extinct hippopotamus
. It arrived after the Messinian salinity crisis
and lived during the Pleistocene
on Malta
. The absence of predators led to the dwarfing
of the hippos. The majority of findings of this species are known from the Għar Dalam, a cave on Malta famous for its Pleistocene fossil deposits.
Hippopotamidae
Hippopotamuses are the members of the family Hippopotamidae. They are the only extant artiodactyls which walk on four toes on each foot.- Characteristics :...
. It arrived after the Messinian salinity crisis
Messinian salinity crisis
The Messinian Salinity Crisis, also referred to as the Messinian Event, and in its latest stage as the Lago Mare event, was a geological event during which the Mediterranean Sea went into a cycle of partly or nearly complete desiccation throughout the latter part of the Messinian age of the Miocene...
and lived during the Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
on Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
. The absence of predators led to the dwarfing
Insular dwarfism
Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of the reduction in size of large animals – typically mammals – when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is distinct from the intentional creation of dwarf...
of the hippos. The majority of findings of this species are known from the Għar Dalam, a cave on Malta famous for its Pleistocene fossil deposits.
See also
- Sicilian HippopotamusSicilian HippopotamusHippopotamus pentlandi is an extinct hippopotamus. It arrived after the Messinian salinity crisis and lived during the Pleistocene on Sicily...
- Cyprus Dwarf HippopotamusCyprus Dwarf HippopotamusThe Cyprus Dwarf Hippopotamus or Cypriot Pygmy Hippopotamus is an extinct species of hippopotamus that inhabited the island of Cyprus until the early Holocene....
- Cretan Dwarf HippopotamusCretan Dwarf HippopotamusHippopotamus creutzburgi is an extinct species of hippopotamus which lived on the island of Crete. Hippopopotamus colonized Crete probably 800,000 years ago and lived there during the Middle Pleistocene....