Pygmy hippopotamus skull from Akrotiri (FN 1 20), 



Tracking the Extinct 



Pygmy Hippopotamus of Cyprus 



By David S. Reese 



Research Associate, Department of Anthropology 



photos by the author 

 except where noted 



22 



For the Past 300 Years, and even today, the extinct 

 fossil mammals of the eastern Mediterranean island of 

 Cyprus have been interpreted as being the bones of 

 saints, early Christian martyrs, antediluvian beasts and 

 dragons. Not until the early 1900s were these bones 

 correctly identified as pygmy mammals — a pig-sized 

 hippopotamus and a pony-sized elephant. 



Cyprus is not unique in the Mediterranean in hav- 

 ing such Disneyland-like animals, mainly of the later 



Pleistocene period (1,000, 000- 10,000 years ago). Sici- 

 ly and Malta also had pygmy elephants and hippos and 

 various giant species: dormice (squirrel-like rodents), 

 swans, vultures, and tortoises; Malta also had pygmy 

 deer. Crete had pygmy hippos and elephants, both pyg- 

 my and large deer, a giant "walking" owl, and large ro- 

 dents and shrews. Other Greek islands had pygmy hip- 

 pos, elephants, and deer as well as giant tortoises. 



Corsica and Sardinia had pygmy deer, a "rat-like" 



