An ancient cave in Greece has revealed new clues about one of the last places hippopotamuses lived in Europe before they vanished from the continent. Researchers studied bones found deep inside Vlychada Cave, a flooded cave system in Dirós, on the Mani Peninsula in southern Greece.
The fossils belong to Hippopotamus amphibius, the same species as the modern common hippo. Scientists say the cave may have served as a refuge for hippos fleeing colder climates near the end of the last Ice Age.
The study was published in the journal Geobios. Michail Georgitsis, of the Department of Historical Geology-Paleontology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, led the research.
Flooded passages hid decades of animal remains
Vlychada Cave sits on Greece’s western coast and stretches nearly 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) underground. Much of it remains filled with brackish water that slowly drains into the sea.
Divers first noticed animal bones in the cave’s flooded passages decades ago. Explorers later found remains from leopards, lions, hyenas, deer, and seals, along with more than 100 hippo bones recovered during underwater digs in the 1990s.
Dating tests on the bones themselves failed because they lacked enough collagen. Scientists instead dated mineral deposits that had formed over the fossils. That method placed a minimum age of roughly 31,650 years on the remains, meaning the hippos lived in the cave area before that time.
For the new study, researchers examined 18 wrist and ankle bones from the cave’s hippo collection. They compared the fossils with bones from modern hippos to look for differences. The ancient bones closely matched their modern relatives in most respects.
Some small differences turned up in the joint surfaces, which researchers say could reflect changes in the environment the animals lived in. In terms of size, the fossil hippos matched the larger individuals among modern hippo populations.
Ancient cave in Greece offered hippopotamus a refuge from the cold
The findings fit into a broader pattern from the Late Pleistocene period, when Europe grew much colder, and many warm-climate species retreated south.
Hippos, which need warm and wet conditions, were among the animals pushed toward southern Europe’s mildest corners. Dirós appears to have been one such refuge, allowing hippos to survive there long after they disappeared from northern regions.
Hippos first reached Europe roughly 2 million years ago and remained widespread across the continent during much of the Pleistocene.
Fossils tied to the animals have turned up at more than 30 sites across Greece alone, with the Peloponnese region producing some of the richest collections. Vlychada Cave stands out for offering some of the latest evidence of hippos surviving in Europe, the study notes.
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