Abstract
Hippopotamidae, an artiodactyl family of African origin, flourished in Europe during the Pleistocene. In Greece, it is reported from more than 20 continental localities, geographically dispersed from the northern to the southernmost part of the country and geochronologically dated from the earliest to the latest Pleistocene. Two species are recognized: the Early–Middle Pleistocene Hippopotamus antiquus and the Late Pleistocene Hippopotamus amphibius, the latter being the less common in the fossil record. Particularly rich or important material has been found in various sites within the Megalopolis Basin and the localities Ravin Voulgarákis, Kalamotó, and Dyrós Cave. Besides their definite presence in the Pleistocene of Greece, representatives of Hippopotamidae might also have been present during the late Miocene as well. This would imply the presence of a Hexaprotodon-like taxon in Greece, as is the case in other European Mediterranean regions.
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Acknowledgments
The author wishes to thank S. Roussiakis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens) and D. Kostopoulos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) for useful discussions, as well as G. Iliopoulos (University of Patras) for providing access to the Aetorráchi skull. The comments of an anonymous reviewer greatly improved the original manuscript.
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Appendix
Appendix
List of fossil localities with occurrences of Hippopotamidae in Greece (including insecure ones), arranged in approximate geochronological order. The age of each locality is taken from the corresponding original publication cited below (in certain cases revised on the basis of more recent data), while the taxonomic identification follows the present revision. Locality numbers refer to the collection numbers of the PaleoBiology Database (PBDB)
LocalitiesPBDB No | Age (ELMA; MNQ; chronometric in ka) | Taxon |
---|---|---|
Dyrós Cave | Late Pleistocene (≥31 ka) | Hippopotamus amphibius1 |
Peniós Valley204397 | Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus cf. amphibius2 |
Tíchos | Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.3 |
Limnón Cave | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.4 |
Apídima Cave A32059 | Middle–Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.5 |
Apídima Cave B32062 | Middle–Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.5 |
Paliávlako (Corfu) | Middle–Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.6 |
Kálymnos Island | Middle–Late Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.7 |
Megalópolis Basin (undefined sites)182721 | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus8 |
Marathoúsa 1187637 | Middle Pleistocene (~500 ka) | Hippopotamus antiquus9 |
Marathoúsa 2 | Middle Pleistocene (~500 ka) | Hippopotamus antiquus10 |
Kyparíssia 1194472 | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus11 |
Kyparíssia 3194474 | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus11 |
Kyparíssia 4194475 | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus11 |
Kyparíssia T194476 | Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus11 |
Chorémi 3200081 | Middle Pleistocene (late Biharian) | Hippopotamus sp.12 |
Myrtiá200093 | Early–Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus13 |
Ptolemaís Basin | Early–Middle Pleistocene? | Hippopotamus antiquus14 |
Káto Salmeníko200094 | Early–Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus15 |
Kalamotó 1200083 | late Early Pleistocene (MNQ19) | Hippopotamus antiquus16 |
Kalamotó 2200084 | late Early Pleistocene (MNQ19) | Hippopotamus antiquus16 |
Ravin Voulgarákis34783 | late Early Pleistocene (MNQ19) | Hippopotamus antiquus17 |
Kapetánios34781 | late Villafranchian | Hippopotamus antiquus18 |
Q-Profil34812 | late Villafranchian | Hippopotamus antiquus18 |
Libákos34764 | late Villafranchian | Hippopotamus antiquus18 |
Antimáchia207130 | Early Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus19 |
Hághios Demétrios200095 | Early–Middle Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus16 |
Aetorráchi200096 | middle Villafranchian | Hippopotamus antiquus20 |
Elis200096 | earliest Pleistocene | Hippopotamus antiquus21 |
Haliákmon Valley | Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.22 |
Mantzavináta | Pleistocene | Hippopotamus sp.23 |
Panaghía sta Éria | late Miocene | Hexaprotodon? sp.24 |
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Athanassiou, A. (2022). The Fossil Record of Continental Hippopotamids (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Hippopotamidae) in Greece. In: Vlachos, E. (eds) Fossil Vertebrates of Greece Vol. 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68442-6_9
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