Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus

Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus
Temporal range: Pleistocene to Early Holocene, 0.2–0.012 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
Species:
H. minor
Binomial name
Hippopotamus minor
Synonyms
  • Phanourios minor Sondaar and Boekschoten, 1972
  • Hippopotamus minutus Cuvier, 1824

The Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus (Hippopotamus minor or Phanourios minor) is an extinct species of dwarf hippopotamus that inhabited the island of Cyprus from the Pleistocene until the early Holocene. One the smallest known hippopotamus species, it was comparable in size to the living pygmy hippopotamus though it was more closely related to the common hippopotamus, with its small body size a result of insular dwarfism. It represented one of only two large terrestrial mammals on Cyprus alongside the Cyprus dwarf elephant. The species became extinct around 12,000 years ago following the arrival of humans on Cyprus, and potential evidence of human hunting has been found at the Aetokremnos rockshelter on the southern coast of the island.

  1. ^ Desmarest, A.G., 1822. Mammalogie ou description des espèces de mammifères. Mme Veuve Agasse imprimeur édit., Paris, 2ème part., pp.277-555.