Hippopotamus laloumena Faure & Guerin, 1990

Open encyclopedia reference

Hippopotamus laloumena is an extinct species of hippopotamus from Pleistocene and Holocene Madagascar, making it the oldest of Malagasy hippopotamus. H. laloumena was much larger than other Malagasy hippopotamus, but was still somewhat smaller than the common hippopotamus (H. amphibius). However, little is known about the species because it was identified with only a lower jaw and limb bones. It was described in 1990 by French palaeontologists M. Faure and Guerin, the fossils recovered from a site near Mananjary on the east coast of Madagascar. The species name derives from Malagasy laloumena "hippopotamus". Radiocarbon dating of H. laloumena remains returned dates both before definitive human occupation of Madagascar (2364–2212 BP), and after European contact (1670–1950 and 1639–1945 AD), with a mandible possibly belonging to this species dating to c. 1600. However, the latter were taken from a skull of dubious provenance and importation from mainland Africa cannot be excluded. Nevertheless, ethnographic data collected in Belo sur Mer include putative eyewitness accounts of a hippo-like animal as recently as 1976. While clearly different from Madagascar's other two recent hippopotamuses (H.

Wikipedia contributors, Hippopotamus laloumena; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T13:45:44.700082+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Hippopotamus laloumena Faure & Guerin, 1990

Name authority

Faure & Guerin, 1990

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Artiodactyla

Family

Hippopotamidae

Genus

Hippopotamus

Extinction status

Recorded extinct

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderArtiodactyla Owen, 1848
12. familyHippopotamidae Gray, 1821
13. genusHippopotamus Linnaeus, 1758
14. speciesHippopotamus laloumena Faure & Guerin, 1990

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Hippopotamus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 3 records assigned to Hippopotamidae.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=898277 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3M2JC. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.