Historical ecology and biogeography of the hippopotamus in Egypt

Historical ecology and biogeography is a composite discipline that requires the compilation of data concerning the presence of an animal in a country or in a specific region, to enable its distribution over a long period of time to be traced. To do this, the biogeographical analysis establishing the history of the distribution of populations calls upon certain ecological concepts, hence the double name of the discipline. This paper presents an historical ecology and biogeography of the hippopotamus in Egypt, from the Late Pleistocene until today, and includes a map showing the evolution of its population distribution in Egypt. It appears that the disappearance of this pachyderm in that country was principally caused by human hunting.