Hippopotamus (genus)

Hippopotamus is a genus of artiodactyl mammals consisting of one extant species, Hippopotamus amphibius, the river hippopotamus (or simply the hippopotamus), and several extinct species from both recent and prehistoric times. It belongs to the family Hippopotamidae, which also includes the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis) and a number of extinct genera.

Hippopotamus
Temporal range: Pliocene - Recent[1][2]
The river hippopotamus, Hippopotamus amphibius
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Hippopotamidae
Subfamily: Hippopotaminae
Genus: Hippopotamus
Linnaeus, 1758
Type species
Hippopotamus amphibius
Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms
  • Phanourios Sondaar and Boekschoten, 1972

Species

The species of the genus Hippopotamus include:

Extant species

Extinct species
  • †Hippopotamus aethiopicus (Africa, Early Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus antiquus, (Europe, Early-Middle Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus behemoth (West Asia, Early Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus creutzburgi, Cretan dwarf hippopotamus (Early Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus gorgops (Africa, West Asia, Early Pleistocene-early Middle Pleistocene), one of the largest known hippopotamuses
  • †Hippopotamus kaisensis (Africa, Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus melitensis, Maltese hippopotamus (Middle-Late Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus minor, Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus (late Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene, synonym Phanourios minor)[3]
  • †Hippopotamus pentlandi, Sicilian hippopotamus (Middle-Late Pleistocene)
  • †Hippopotamus sirensis (Africa, Early Pleistocene, possibly a synonym of H. gorgops)[4]
  • Malagasy hippopotamuses (Late Pleistocene-Holocene)

References
  1. "Fossilworks: Hippopotamus".
  2. "Fossilworks: Hippopotamus amphibius".
  3. Hooijer, Dirk Albert (1952). "Fact and Fiction in Hippopotamology (Sampling the History of Scientific Error)". Osiris. 10: 109–116. doi:10.1086/368549. JSTOR 301810. S2CID 143556059. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  4. van der Made J, Sahnouni M & Boulaghraief K. 2017. Hippopotamus gorgops from El Kherba (Algeria) and the context of its biogeography. In Proceedings of the II Meeting of African Prehistory: Burgos 15-16 April, 2015, Sahnouni M, Semaw S, Rios Garaizar J (eds). CENIEH: Burgos; 135–169.

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