Madagascan Dwarf Hippopotamus
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The Madagascan Dwarf Hippopotamus or Malagasy Dwarf Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus lemerlei) is an extinct species of Hippopotami that lived on the Island of Madagascar. It is classified extinct by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
Fossils have been found of the Madagascan Dwarf Hippopotamus until around 1000 A.D. But oral traditions in Madagascar still describe a hippo-like creature, suggesting the animal existed until more recently.
Several other species of small hippopotamus occupied Madagascar, such as the Madagascan Pygmy Hippopotamus. A complete skeleton of a dwarf hippopotamus from Antsirabe, Madagascar is on display at the Paleontologisk Museum at the University of Oslo.
[edit] External Links
- Biodiversity.net: Hippopotamus Lemerlei
- Oliver W.L.R., Taxonomy and Conservation Status of the Suiformes - an Overview, 1995. in PDF
- H. Paleontologisk Museum, University of Oslo
- IUCN Redlist on H. lemerlei
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