Hippos are the spring breakers of the animal world – follow them, and you’ll find warmth and water. Today, they reside primarily in the lakes and rivers of Africa, where they splash around as the second-largest land animal on Earth. But according to a new study, these sizable creatures once ventured north into Europe and contended with fluctuations in the continent’s glaciers.
The fact that modern hippos, Hippopotamus amphibius, once lived in Europe is well-established science. What scientists still don’t know is how they got there from Africa and their relationship to the long-extinct Hippopotamus antiquus, which may have roamed Europe at the same time.
Scientists also debate when modern hippos first arrived, but the restoration and dating of an important hippo skull found in Rome, Italy, offers up a new answer.
