Abstract
A humerus and two radii of juvenile dwarf hippopotamuses are redescribed. The subfossil bones from the collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin were erroneously assigned to the horned crocodile <i>Voay robustus</i> (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) by Bickelmann & Klein (2009). All three limb bones presented here belong to immature animals. The epiphyses are not fused, except the proximal extremity of the right radius; and the radius and ulna are also unfused. The two radii are from individuals of different size, whereas the left radius and the humerus are from animals of similar size. Morphologically, the limb bones cannot be identified to species level. A tentative assignment to <i>Hippopotamus madagascariensis</i> is discussed based on the knowledge of the geographic origin on the island. <br><br> doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.201000003" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.201000003</a>
Highlights
In 1898, subfossil material of a crocodylian from the late Pleistocene Madagascan locality of Sirab, North Betsileo was purchased for the Museum fçr Naturkunde in Berlin
The subfossil bones from the collection of the Museum fçr Naturkunde Berlin were erroneously assigned to the horned crocodile Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) by Bickelmann & Klein (2009)
The limb bones redescribed here undoubtedly belong to extinct dwarf hippopotamuses, which are well known from the Quaternary deposits of Madagascar (e.g., Filhol 1895; Forsyth Major 1902a; Joleaud 1923; Stuenes 1989)
Summary
In 1898, subfossil material of a crocodylian from the late Pleistocene Madagascan locality of Sirab, North Betsileo (today Antsirab; Fig. 1) was purchased for the Museum fçr Naturkunde in Berlin. The subfossil bones from the collection of the Museum fçr Naturkunde Berlin were erroneously assigned to the horned crocodile Voay robustus (Grandidier & Vaillant, 1872) by Bickelmann & Klein (2009). The two radii are from individuals of different size, whereas the left radius and the humerus are from animals of similar size. After an inventory of the crocodylomorph material in the vertebrate collection it turned out that three of the figured bones by Bickelmann & Klein (2009, figs 6G–H, J) cannot be assigned to crocodylians, but belong to dwarf hippopotamuses instead.
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