Hippopotamus madagascariensis (dwarf hippopotamus)
A nearly 3000 year old dwarf Hippopotamus madagascariensis (Guldberg, 1883) skull from Antsirabé in the central highlands of Madagascar. This specimen (NHM M7093 / M8153) is held in the Palaeontology Department at the Museum.
Hippopotamus madagascariensis is an extinct species of dwarf hippopotamus from the African island of Madagascar. Hippopotamus madagascariensis one of three species of hippopotamus that have been discovered on the island from semi-fossilised remains that all date within the last 10,000 years from the Holocene age.
Dwarf hippopotamuses were recorded as living on Madagascar by early European explorers in the sixteen hundreds. No hippopotamuses are living on Madagascar today.
Species detail
The first detailed description of a figured skull and lower jaw of Hippopotamus madagascariensis was that of Guldberg (1883) in Norwegian. The material was collected in the central highlands of Madagascar and donated to the Zoological Museum in Oslo.
For many years since its original description this dwarf hippopotamus was considered to be synonymous with another species of dwarf hippo Hippopotamus lemerlei (described even earlier by Grandidier in 1868). It was not until 1989 that a Swedish researcher Solweig Stuenes correctly recognised that there were two distinct species of dwarf hippopotamus on Madagascar and not only that these dwarf hippos were restricted to different geographic regions on the island.
-
Taxonomy
Read about the size, weight and other features of Hippopotamus madagascariensis.
-
Evolution
It is likely that the ancestors of Hippopotamus madagascariensis swam the Mozambique channel to reach Madagascar, from which Hippopotamus madagascariensis evolved based on its island surroundings. Find out more about the evolution of the dwarf hippopotamuses of Madagascar.
-
Distribution
Learn about the three extinct species of hippopotamus that have been discovered in Madagascar and view a distribution map of these species.
-
References
Get reference material for Hippopotamus madagascariensis.
Images
Hippopotamus madagascariensis (NHM M7093): superorbital margin thin above eye socket.
A nearly 3000 year old dwarf Hippopotamus madagascariensis (Guldberg, 1883) skull from Antsirabé in the central highlands of Madagascar. This specimen (NHM M7093 / M8153) is held in the Palaeontology Department at the Museum.
Hippopotamus lemerlei (NHM M82190): superorbital margin thick or swollen above eye socket.
Map of Madagascar indicating distribution of extinct hippopotamus species.
River running through the central highlands of Madagascar depicting the typical habitat of the dwarf hippopotamus Hippopotamus madagascariensis.
Video
Pigmy hippo's, hobbits and evolutionary dwarfism
Find out how ancient Madagascan hippos have shed light on the origins of the small brain of a 1-metre-tall human, known as the hobbit. The discoveries described in the film were made by scientists at the Natural History Museum and reported in the journal Nature.
