European Hippopotamus
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Hippopotamus antiquus Temporal range: |
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| Hippopotamus antiquus in Florence Palaeontology museum | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Clade: | Synapsida |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Artiodactyla |
| Family: | Hippopotamidae |
| Genus: | Hippopotamus |
| Species: | †H. antiquus |
| Binomial name | |
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Hippopotamus antiquus Desmarest 1822 |
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Hippopotamus antiquus, sometimes called the European hippopotamus, was a species of hippopotamus that ranged across Europe, becoming extinct some time before the last ice age at the end of the epoch.
H. antiquus ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles to the Rhine River to Greece.
Similar in size and form to Hippopotamus gorgops, H. antiquus on average was larger than the modern common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). H. antiquus is believed to have first appeared around 1.8 million years ago, compared to 2 million years ago for H. amphibius. Beginning in the , H. amphibius migrated into Europe and may have competed with this hippopotamus species for food.
The Cretan Dwarf Hippopotamus (H. creutzburgi) is believed to have evolved from H. antiquus through the process of insular dwarfism on the island of Crete.
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