Dwarf Hippos Once Lived Madagascar Forests Not Grasslands, Study Says

Experts have found that extinct dwarf hippopotamus lived in Madagascar forests and not in open grasslands.

A report on Phys.Org said that researchers from the University of Cincinnati had discovered that when Madagascar broke away from Africa's mainland million years ago, the animals and plants had evolved in geographic isolation towards the Indian Ocean.

During that time, Madagascar has hippopotamus, but it did not have elephants, giraffes, rhinos, and any other huge mammals.

According to studies, the dwarf hippos or Malagasy hippo was way smaller compared to its four-ton cousin, the common hippopotamus.

Despite this, the said hippo was considered as the largest land animal there during that period, together with the Nile crocodiles and the flightless and enormous elephant bird.

Findings of the study

Researchers have conducted an isotopic analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen in the bones of the extinct hippos.

The findings have helped provide an insight about the animals' preferred habitats by leaving behind a signature of the food that they ate before.

The research, posted in Plants, People, Planet, has shown that the chemistry of the hippo bones indicates that C4 grasses were only a minor part of the mammal's diet.

It further stated that grasses expanded only after Malagasy people shifted from hunting and foraging to agropastoralism approximately 1000 years ago.

Furthermore, a report on Science Blog said the findings have suggested that the grasslands, presently dominating the massive island off the coast of southern Africa, were likely a relatively recent human-made transformation.

This dismissed the observation that the are was a natural habitat sustained in part by the large herbivores and mammals.

Brooke Crowley, lead author of the research, described the Malagasy hippo as similar to the secretive and endangered pygmy hippos which were found in the forests and swamps of West Africa's Liberia and Guinea.

Crowley and his team said the dwarf hippos did not regularly graze on grass in dry, open habitats, including the other areas currently dominated by grasslands.

They also found out that the dwarf hippos had a diet that included sedges and leaves.

The experts said the mammal had preferred plants found in wetter, more forested landscapes.

This indicated that forests were more abundant before human activities took place.

These activities include land cultivation, domesticated animal grazing, and wood harvesting, which later altered the landscape.

Extinction due to human activities

Meanwhile, Professor Laurie Godfrey of the University of Massachusetts Amherst noted that the extinction of the dwarf hippos on the island was because of the human activities that happened in the area, such as pastoralism and crop cultivation.

"There is pretty compelling convergent evidence showing that many of the extinct animals disappeared in a short window of time coinciding with the transition of people from hunting and gathering to pastoralism," Godfrey said in a report on Earth.Com.

Following the study, Crowley, meanwhile, underscored the need to restore the forests on the island.

Crowley also said more conservation actions are needed to address the biodiversity being observed and experienced in Madagascar.