It was considerably smaller than H. antiquus, weighing approximately 400 kilograms (880 lb), an example of insular dwarfism.

[3] Analysis of its limbs suggests that it was more adapted to terrestrial locomotion than living hippopotamus, primarily walking on its hooves rather than its footpads as in living hippopotamus, and capable of traversing the rugged terrain of Crete.

Analysis of its teeth suggests that it had a grazing diet, similar to modern Hippopotamus amphibius.

[1] The previous suggestion that the species can be divided into two subspecies is not supported by modern research.

They were subsequently subject to a long and convoluted taxonomic history,[4] before the species name H. creutzburgi was coined by Boekschoten & Sondaar in 1966.