Hippopotamus antiquus
Hippopotamus antiquus, sometimes called the European hippopotamus, was a species of hippopotamus that ranged across Europe, becoming extinct some time before the last glacial period at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. Some scholars classify it as Hippopotamus amphibius antiquus, a subspecies of the modern common hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius.Biology
H. antiquus ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to the British Isles to the Rhine River to Greece.
At an average weight of 3200 kg, Hippopotamus antiquus was larger than the modern common hippopotamus, but smaller than Hippopotamus major and Hippopotamus gorgops. 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 Middle Pleistocene, H. amphibius migrated into Europe and may have competed with H. antiquus for food and water sources.
The Cretan dwarf hippopotamus is believed to have evolved from H. antiquus through the process of insular dwarfism on the island of Crete.
