A new species of hippopotamus known as ‘Archaeopotamus qeshta’ has just been recognised and published by a group of palaeontologists working on the 6-8 million year old Late Miocene Baynunah geological formation, located in Al Dhafra, in the western region of Abu Dhabi emirate in the UAE.   This is a relatively small hippopotamus which had a moderate size of about 600 kg. Its mandibles are characterised by symphyses that are greatly elongated relative to their width. It has characteristic teeth and its small dimensions are confirmed by measurements to its metapodial and/or phalangeal dimensions.

Boisserie, J.-R., M. Schuster, M.J. Beech, A. Hill and F. Bibi. 2017. A new species of hippopotamine (Cetartiodactyla, Hippopotamidae) from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. PalaeoVertebrata 41-1-e2. doi: 10.18563/pv.41.1.e2