Hippopotamus major
Hippopotamus major | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Fossil Hippopotamus major skull | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Hippopotamidae |
Genus: | Hippopotamus |
Species: | †H. major
|
Binomial name | |
†Hippopotamus major Cuvier, 1824
|
Hippopotamus major or the giant European hippo is an extinct species of hippopotamus found in Pleistocene fossil sites in Europe and Great Britain.[1] Hippopotamus major was one of the largest and northernmost hippopotamus species that ever lived. Like many megafauna that inhabited the northern parts of the world during the Pleistocene ice age, Hippopotamus major was probably more hairy than its modern African and southern Asian relatives. With an estimated mass of 4000 kg (8,800 lb) or more, H. major was on average larger than the modern Hippopotamus amphibius.[citation needed]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b3/Hippopotamus_major_drawing.jpg/220px-Hippopotamus_major_drawing.jpg)
Restoration
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/Hippopotamus_major_Montevarchi_03.jpg/220px-Hippopotamus_major_Montevarchi_03.jpg)
Side view of skull
References[]
Categories:
- Extinct hippopotamuses
- Mammals described in 1824
- Fossil taxa described in 1824
- Taxa named by Georges Cuvier
- Prehistoric even-toed ungulate stubs