# Dwarf Hippos



## Rosemary (Dec 8, 2007)

Nicosia.
  Was this an abattoir used by early Cypriots or simply a shelter that proved a death trap?
  Cypriot and Greek scientists are trying to unravel the riddle of a collapsed cave brimming with the fossilised remains of extinct dwarf hippopotamuses that were descendants of a group believed to have migrated to the island as far back as a quarter of a million years ago.
  Palaeontologists have unearthed an estimated 80 dwarf hippopotamuses in recent digs at the site.  Possibly hundreds more may be lying beneath an exposed layer of jumbled fossils embedded in the crevices of an ancient coral reef formation.
  The new fossil haul dated to 9000-11,500BC could offer clues to solve the mystery of when humans first set foot on the island.  
  Until this discovery at Ayia Napa, the earliest trace of humans on the island dated back to 9000BC.  However signs of human activity such as stone tools at the cave could turn back the clock on the first Cypriots by as much as 3500 years.  
  The dwarf hippopotamuses were herbivores just like their modern-day cousins but only a fraction of their size, measuring about 0.7m tall and 1.2m long. 

  The fossils show the Cypriot hippos had legs and feet adapted to land rather than water and enabling them to stand on their hind legs to reach low-lying tree branches.


_http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/05/AR2007120501692.html_


_Whether stone tools and remains of fires at the cave indicate human occupation, I still find that it is very interesting to learn more about our ancient animals. _


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## Pravuil (Dec 8, 2007)

And were these stones age tools dated to be around the same time as that of the dwarf hippopotamus'es lives?


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## Rosemary (Dec 8, 2007)

Pravuil said:


> And were these stones age tools dated to be around the same time as that of the dwarf hippopotamus'es lives?



Yes they are Pravuil.  Looking back at the article in the paper, I found this...

_'One cave found 20 years ago had evidence of fire, stone tools and scorched bones indicating dwarf hippos were hunted by humans. _
_Carbon dating on those hippo fossils showed the site dated to 8,000 B.C. Evidence of human activity at Ayia Napa means the island may have been settled by humans as much as 3,500 years earlier.'_


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