Population dynamics on Aetokremnos hippos of Cyprus or have Cypriots ever tasted hippo meat?

Abstract

The use of life tables in age-graded mandibles of the endemic pygmy hippopotamus Hippopotamus minor from Aetokremnos Cyprus suggests that death occurred by natural causes such as accidents, genetic abnormalities and endemic diseases rather than catastrophic causes. Comparison of H. minor and modern Hippopotamus amphibius life tables suggests the birth of one offspring per female per year and the occurrence of mating and birth seasons. Hunting by prehistoric humans whose tools were found in proximity with the hippopotamus bones is not justified by the life tables that have been produced. The use of the wet rockshelter of Aetokremnos as a living area during the day, in the same way that extant H. amphibius use lake water, is instead proposed as a probable explanation for the extensive accumulation of bones.