Van der Geer et al. (2014) responded to Mazza P.P.A. (2014) which is based on the premise that hippopotamuses cannot swim, they dehydrate in salt water, that sweepstakes dispersal to the islands was improbable, and, therefore, the colonization of Cyprus, Crete, and Madagascar by hippos must have occurred via as yet unknown or poorly understood land bridges or very shallow ridges between island chains. Van der Geer et al. (2014) responded that the bathymetry of the straits is known and there are no viable land bridge options and proposes the hippos swam to, or were carried to the islands via rafting or currents, noting there is at least one report of a hippo swimming in salt water, that the presence of hippos on an island in Lake Turkana is most easily explained by swimming, and that extant hippos voluntarily enter salt water. They point out that juvenile hippos float and swim, and a year-old hippo survived being swept into the ocean and survived on a reef/island. Finally, they point out that although sweepstakes dispersal is improbable, it is not impossible over geologic time. The present study is a reply to Van der Geer et al. (2014).

To swim or not to swim, that is the question: a reply to van der Geer et alii / Mazza P.. - In: LETHAIA. - ISSN 0024-1164. - STAMPA. - 48:(2015), pp. 289-290.

To swim or not to swim, that is the question: a reply to van der Geer et alii

MAZZA, PAUL
2015

Abstract

Van der Geer et al. (2014) responded to Mazza P.P.A. (2014) which is based on the premise that hippopotamuses cannot swim, they dehydrate in salt water, that sweepstakes dispersal to the islands was improbable, and, therefore, the colonization of Cyprus, Crete, and Madagascar by hippos must have occurred via as yet unknown or poorly understood land bridges or very shallow ridges between island chains. Van der Geer et al. (2014) responded that the bathymetry of the straits is known and there are no viable land bridge options and proposes the hippos swam to, or were carried to the islands via rafting or currents, noting there is at least one report of a hippo swimming in salt water, that the presence of hippos on an island in Lake Turkana is most easily explained by swimming, and that extant hippos voluntarily enter salt water. They point out that juvenile hippos float and swim, and a year-old hippo survived being swept into the ocean and survived on a reef/island. Finally, they point out that although sweepstakes dispersal is improbable, it is not impossible over geologic time. The present study is a reply to Van der Geer et al. (2014).
2015
48
289
290
Mazza P.
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/945151
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