UK OVERSEAS TERRITORIES CONSERVATION FORUM
Virtual Tours: Cyprus Sovereign Base Areas
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Features of Natural Interest
Features of Other Interest, including Cultural
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Features of Other Interest, including Cultural

Cyprus was not settled in the old stone age, which allowed survival of numerous dwarf forms, such as dwarf elephants (Elephas cypriotes) and pygmy hippos (Hippopotamus minor) well into the Holocene. The extinction of the pygmy hippos and dwarf elephants has been linked to the earliest arrival of Homo sapiens on Cyprus approximately 12,000 years ago.

A display at the Akrotiri Environmental Education Centre illustrating the pygmy hippo (Hippopotamus minor), a species which inhabited the island approximately 12,000 years ago.
© Thomas Hadjikyriakou
(Features of Other Interest, including Cultural, 8 of 9 - Slide ref. 723)