Hippopotamus behemoth explained

Hippopotamus behemoth is an extinct species of hippopotamus from the Early Pleistocene of the Levant. Fossils of it, and its probable ancestor, H. gorgops, are found in the ‘Ubeidiya site in the southern Levant, dating to the Early Pleistocene, around 1.4 million years ago.^[1]

H. behemoth differs from H. gorgops in having more elongated feet, and being somewhat smaller.^[2] Some experts consider these differences to be too slight to justify separating the two species, however,^{[3] [4]} while other authors have considered the species to be closer in morphology to the European species Hippopotamus antiquus.^[5]

Notes and References

1. Rabinovich, Rivka, and Rebecca Biton. "The Early–Middle Pleistocene faunal assemblages of Gesher Benot Ya ‘aqov: Inter-site variability." Journal of Human Evolution 60.4 (2011): 357-374.
2. Prothero, Donald R., and Scott E. Foss, eds. The evolution of artiodactyls. JHU Press, 2007.
3. Petronio, C. (1995): Note on the taxonomy of Pleistocene hippopotamuses. Ibex 3: 53-55. PDF fulltext
4. Martínez-Navarro. B. 2010. The fossil Bovidae (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel: Out of Africa during the early-middle Pleistocene transition. J. Hum. Evol.. 60. 4. 375–386. 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.03.012. 21392634.
5. Fidalgo . D. . Rosas . A. . Madurell-Malapeira . J. . Pineda . A. . Huguet . R. . García-Tabernero . A. . Cáceres . I. . Ollé . A. . Vallverdú . J. . Saladie . P. . May 2023 . A review on the Pleistocene occurrences and palaeobiology of Hippopotamus antiquus based on the record from the Barranc de la Boella Section (Francolí Basin, NE Iberia) . Quaternary Science Reviews . en . 307 . 108034 . 10.1016/j.quascirev.2023.108034. 10261/308555 . free .