ΠΜΣ με ειδίκευση στη Στρωματογραφία - Παλαιοντολογία
Library of the School of Science

2014-12-29

2014

Φιλιππίδη Αμαλία

Καθηγητής Γεώργιος Γ. Θεοδώρου (επιβλέπων), Αναπλ. Καθηγητής Παρίσις Παυλάκης, Λέκτορας Σωκράτης Ρουσιάκης

Βιομετρική σύγκριση απολιθωμένων οστών των ενδημικών νάνων ιπποποτάμων από ανωπλειστοκαινικές θέσεις της Κύπρου

Greek

Biometrical study of endemic pygmy hippopotamus' skeletal remains recovered from Upper- Pleistocene fossiliferous sites from Cyprus

Cyprus has drawn the attention of palaeontologists and archaeologists for more
than one century. A
great number of fossil-rich sites has been discovered, scattered practically to
all the coastal and almost all inland regions of the island. In these sites,
the majority of the fossils retrieved belong to either pygmy
hippopotamuses and/or elephants. In this study, the skeletal remains that
belong to pygmy hippopotamus of four of these sites were studied; namely: Agia
Napa, Kissonerga, Akanthou and Ayia Eirini II, using taphonomical, biometrical
and biostatistical methods. The scope of this research is two-fold: biometrical
and biostatistical inquiry is aiming to examine whether all these sites are
bearing skeletal remains of the same species, whilst the taphonomy is used
anticipating to give a plausible explanation of the rapid extinction of these
mammals from the island. The latter has been a controversial issue that has
triggered a strong debate whether man’s arrival on the island led to these
extinctions. The findings from all four sites appear to belong to the same
species; i.e. Phanourios minor, and in particular to represent the same and
most probably the last stage of dwarfism before their extinction. In addition
the high accumulation of fossils and their good preservation indicate that both
their burial as well as survivorship has been the result of physical parameters
rather than human agency. Lastly, combining all the above the sudden extinction
is most probably associated to environmental changes, that are reported to have
occurred at the onset of Holocene, and there is no indication that man’s
arrival on the island has played any decisive role. Therefore it can be
concluded that the rich fossiliferous sites in Cyprus island have captured the
time slice of the pygmy hippopotamuses’ flourishing,
just before their extinction.

Endemic fauna, Pygmy hippopotamus, Phanourios minor, Extinction, Cyprus

No

0

Yes

127

[4], 209

File access is restricted.

https://pergamos.lib.uoa.gr/uoa/dl/object/1316567