''Hippopotamus creutzburgi'', the Cretan dwarf hippopotamus, is an extinct species of

hippopotamus The hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius;'' ; : hippopotamuses), often shortened to hippo (: hippos), further qualified as the common hippopotamus, Nile hippopotamus and river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Sahar ...

from the island of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. It lived on the island from the

Early Pleistocene The Early Pleistocene is an unofficial epoch (geology), sub-epoch in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, representing the earliest division of the Pleistocene Epoch within the ongoing Quaternary Period. It is currently esti ...

to early

Middle Pleistocene The Chibanian, more widely known as the Middle Pleistocene (its previous informal name), is an Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale or a Stage (stratigraphy), stage in chronostratigraphy, being a division of the Pleistocen ...

, and probably descended from ''

Hippopotamus antiquus ''Hippopotamus antiquus'' is an extinct species of the genus ''Hippopotamus'' that ranged across Europe during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. It was considerably larger than the living hippopotamus (''Hippopotamus amphibius''). Description ...

.'' It was considerably smaller than ''H. antiquus'', weighing approximately , an example of

insular dwarfism Insular dwarfism, a form of phyletic dwarfism, is the process and condition of large animals evolving or having a reduced body size when their population's range is limited to a small environment, primarily islands. This natural process is disti ...

. It was one of only two large herbivores on the island during its existence, alongside the dwarf mammoth ''

Mammuthus creticus ''Mammuthus creticus'', or the Cretan dwarf mammoth, is an extinct species of dwarf mammoth endemic to Crete sometime during the Early Pleistocene to early Middle Pleistocene. It is known from fragmentary remains found in caves on the north coast ...

,'' with large predators being absent, the only other species of mammal present on the island being the giant rat '' Kritimys''. It is known from abundant remains collected from the Katharo basin in the eastern uplands of Crete, approximately above sea level, as well as much rarer remains found in coastal caves. Analysis of its limbs suggests that it was more adapted to terrestrial locomotion than living hippopotamus, primarily walking on its hooves rather than its footpads as in living hippopotamus, and capable of traversing the rugged terrain of Crete. Analysis of its teeth suggests that it had a grazing diet, similar to modern '' Hippopotamus amphibius''. The previous suggestion that the species can be divided into two

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

is not supported by modern research. The first remains of the species were described in 1845 by

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...

. They were subsequently subject to a long and convoluted taxonomic history, before the species name ''H. creutzburgi'' was coined by Boekschoten & Sondaar in 1966.Boekschoten, G.J. & Sondaar, P.Y. (1966): The Pleistocene of the Katharo basin (Crete) and its Hippopotamus. Bijdragen tot de Dierkunde 36: 17-44.

References

Extinct hippopotamuses Pleistocene Artiodactyla Prehistoric mammals of Europe Prehistoric Crete Fossil taxa described in 1966 {{Paleo-eventoedungulate-stub

See also

References