Key Points
- Researchers digitally reconstructed the skull of Crete’s extinct Hippopotamus creutzburgi.
- The species followed the “island rule,” shrinking in size after isolation. Fossils were fragmented and poorly preserved, posing challenges for reconstruction.
- Blender software and innovative techniques enabled accurate retrodeformation.
- A full skeleton reconstruction has been completed, with museum exhibitions planned.
Researchers Nikolaos Gerakakis and Prof. Dimitrios Makris have digitally reconstructed the skull of an extinct dwarf hippopotamus, Hippopotamus creutzburgi, which once roamed Crete. Using advanced 3D imaging and photogrammetry techniques, the study, published in Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage, marks this species’s first complete skull reconstruction, shedding light on its unique characteristics and evolutionary journey.
H. creutzburgi lived on Crete during the Early-to-Middle Pleistocene. During this period, fluctuating sea levels and narrower Aegean geography likely allowed their ancestors, H. antiquus, to migrate from the Peloponnese. Juvenile hippos, being more buoyant in salt water, may have had better survival rates during the journey, enabling a population to establish itself on the island. Over time, the species became smaller, adhering to the “island rule,” where large animals tend to shrink in size in isolated environments.
The extinction of H. creutzburgi remains a mystery, though hypotheses range from physical catastrophes to competition with deer that arrived on Crete later. The species’ fossils, predominantly found on the Katharó plateau, are typically fragmented and poorly preserved, making reconstruction efforts challenging.
Despite these obstacles, Gerakakis and Makris utilized four fossil fragments excavated between 1998 and 2002 to reconstruct the skull digitally. Employing Blender software, the researchers innovated techniques to segment, reposition, and correct deformed cranium pieces. A complex “spider-like” exoskeleton with 23 armatures for the mandible enabled precise retrodeformation guided by undistorted specimens.
Their findings reveal that H. creutzburgi shared morphological similarities with African hippopotami, H. antiquus, and Malagasy dwarf hippopotami, with a size comparable to the latter or a juvenile male African hippo. The digital model offers opportunities for 3D printing and museum displays, including a planned exhibition at the Katharó plateau.
The researchers have also completed a digital reconstruction of the entire skeleton, which the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens has physically replicated. A corresponding scientific paper is forthcoming.