Scientists are trying to solve the riddle of a collapsed cave brimming with the fossilised remains of extinct dwarf hippos that were descendants of a group believed to have migrated there a quarter of a million years ago.
Palaeontologists have unearthed an estimated 80 dwarf hippos in recent digs at the site located just outside the Cypriot resort of Ayia Napa.
Scientists hope the new fossil haul dated to 9,000-11,500 BC could offer vital clues to solving the long-standing quandary over when humans first set foot on the Mediterranean island.
The dwarf hippopotamuses were herbivores just like their modern-day cousins but only a fraction of their size, measuring roughly 0.70 meters tall and 1,2 meters long.
Indications that hippo bones at the Ayia Napa cave had been crushed as if trampled on by other hippos compounds the mystery as to why successive generations kept coming back to the cave.
Shelter is the most likely explanation, but that didn't rule out the possibility the hippos returned to an ancient burial ground to die.
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