Hippopotamus melitensis

Hippopotamus melitensis Temporal range: Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Hippopotamidae
Genus:	Hippopotamus
Species:	†H. melitensis
Binomial name
†Hippopotamus melitensis Major, 1902[1]

Hippopotamus melitensis is an extinct hippopotamus. It arrived after the Messinian salinity crisis and lived during the Pleistocene on Malta. The absence of predators led to the dwarfing of the hippos. The majority of findings of this species are known from the Għar Dalam, a cave on Malta famous for its Pleistocene fossil deposits.

See also

• Sicilian Hippopotamus
• Cyprus Dwarf Hippopotamus
• Cretan Dwarf Hippopotamus

References

1. ^ Major, C.I.F., 1902. Some account of a nearly complete skeleton of Hippopotamus madagascariensis, Guldb., from Sirabé, Madagascar, obtained in 1895. Geol. Mag. 1902 pp.193-199.