Hippopotamus behemoth
Hippopotamus behemoth Temporal range:
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Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Hippopotamidae |
Genus: | Hippopotamus |
Species: | †H. behemoth
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Binomial name | |
†Hippopotamus behemoth Faure 1986
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Hippopotamus behemoth is an extinct species of hippopotamus from the Early Pleistocene of the Levant. Fossils of it, the modern hippopotamus H. amphibius, and its probable ancestor, H. gorgops, are found in the ‘Ubeidiya site in the southern Levant.[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]
References[]
- ^ 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.
- ^ Prothero, Donald R., and Scott E. Foss, eds. The evolution of artiodactyls. JHU Press, 2007.
- ^ Petronio, C. (1995): Note on the taxonomy of Pleistocene hippopotamuses. Ibex 3: 53-55. PDF fulltext
- ^ 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. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.03.012. PMID 21392634.
Categories:
- Extinct hippopotamuses
- Pleistocene even-toed ungulates
- Pleistocene mammals of Asia
- Pleistocene extinctions
- Fossil taxa described in 1986
- Prehistoric even-toed ungulate stubs