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Cell Press
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· Jan 31
![Late Pleistocene hippo fossils ( Hippopotam us amphibius ) from Europe have generally been associated with the last interglacial period (Eemian, 129–115 thousand years ago [kya]). 1–4 As a widely accepted indicator species for temperate climate condition s, it was assumed they went extinct with the onset of the last glacial (Weichselian) around 115 kya. 2 , 5 Their origin and relationships to extant African common hippos and the exact age of their extinction in central Europe, however, remain unclear. Here, we address these question s using an integrated approach applied to hippos from the Upper Rhine Graben in central Europe. By sequencing the paleogeno me of a European hippo, we reveal its close genetic links to modern hippos from Africa. Six addition al partial mitochondria l genomes confirm that European represen tatives were part of the same, once widespread species that is today restricted to sub-Saharan Africa. Surprisingly, radio - carbon dating shows that hippos were present in central Europe during the middle Weichse lian (a period spanning from earlier than 47 kya until ∼ 31 kya), i.e., well into the last glacial. Similar radiocar bon dates for woolly mammoth and woolly rhino fossils from the same sites imply short-ter m alternation of faunas dur - ing this period. Despite the paleogenome’s low coverage, we are able to confidently estimate its genome- wide diversity by recalibra ting the sequencin g quality scores and assessin g post-mortem damage. The low genome-wide diversity recovered suggests that it belonged to a small, isolated populati on. Overall, our combined data imply that hippos inhabited the Upper Rhine Graben refugium during temperate phases of the middle Weichselian](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dbehouwmds4bxla5z5glados/bafkreiccam7whl7g3sceqydimqornjkstxbxokwvk4eo25q2br5kuag6nu@jpeg)
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