Archaeopotamus

Scientific name: Archaeopotamus qeshta

Officially approvedEntity code: ENT-0038

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Habitat

Where it lives

This hippo lived in an Arabia wetter than today: the Baynunah Formation (about 7.7–7.0 million years ago) records rivers and water-dependent animals, including hippos and crocodiles, now absent from Arabia.

Evidence: SRC-270Statement code: CLM-ENT0038-HUMID-05

Sources (1)

Sources

2Markowska et al. 2025 — Recurrent humid phases in Arabia over the past 8 million yearsSRC-270

Where it is found

The features of Archaeopotamus qeshta suggest that the Arabian Peninsula was not a route by which hippos spread from Africa to southern Asia about 7.5–6.5 million years ago.

Evidence: SRC-097Statement code: CLM-ENT0038-BIOGEO-04

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Sources

1Boisserie et al. 2017 — A new species of hippopotamine from the late Miocene Baynunah FormationSRC-097
2Markowska et al. 2025 — Recurrent humid phases in Arabia over the past 8 million yearsSRC-270
3Paleobiology Database — Archaeopotamus Boisserie 2005SRC-230

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