Hippopotamus melitensis

Hippopotamus melitensis is an extinct hippopotamus from Malta. It lived during Middle-Late Pleistocene. It probably descended from Hippopotamus pentlandi from Sicily,^[2] which in turn probably descended from the common hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius).^[3] Like Hippopotamus pentlandi, Hippopotamus melitensis is substantially smaller than H. amphibius as a result of insular dwarfism, having an estimated mass of approximately 900 kg, which is smaller than the 1100 kg estimated for H. pentlandi. The diet of H. melitensis is suggested to have been more generalist than Hippopotamus amphibius (which is predominantly a grazer), likely as a result of limited resource diversity and lack of competition, as the only other large herbivore on the island was the dwarf elephant Palaeoloxodon mnaidriensis.^[2] The majority of findings of this species are from Għar Dalam, a cave on Malta famous for its Pleistocene fossil deposits.

Hippopotamus melitensis Temporal range: Pleistocene
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Suborder:	Whippomorpha
Family:	Hippopotamidae
Genus:	Hippopotamus
Species:	†H. melitensis
Binomial name
†Hippopotamus melitensis Major, 1902[1]

Fossils of H. melitensis, like those of the elephants, are absent from layers of Ghar Dalam younger than around 80,000 years old.^[4]

See also

• Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus
• Cretan dwarf hippopotamus