[5][6] The Malagasy hippopotamus was first described in the mid-19th century by Alfred Grandidier, who unearthed nearly 50 individual hippos from a dried-up swamp at 'Ambolisatra'[1] (thought to be Ambolisaka, near Lake Ihotry[7]), a few miles from the Mozambique Channel.

Some taxonomists, however, consider the modern pygmy hippo to belong to the genus Choeropsis, so this species may also be classified as C.

At least seven hippopotamus bones show unequivocal signs of butchery, suggesting that they survived until humans arrived on Madagascar.

As hippos are semi-aquatic, it is possible that they survived the 400 km (248 mi) trek across the channel, although presumably when the water was shallower and there were perhaps small islands along the way.

A review of their morphology and habitat, however, suggested a closer relationship to the modern pygmy hippopotamus.

The Malagasy pygmy hippo was similarly less aquatic, with many of its fossils found in the forested highlands of Madagascar.

[8] Fossils of both the Malagasy pygmy hippopotamus and H. lemerlei show a cursorial adaptation, distinct from the hippos on the African continent, and they would have been much better runners.

Further examination, however, has discovered differences between the pygmy hippopotamus and the Asian hippos, prompting its reclassification by some as Choeropsis.

Little is known about the species, because it was identified with only a lower jaw and limb bones, recovered from a site near Mananjary on the east coast of Madagascar.

[15] However, other studies contradict these conclusions and suggest that grasses were only a minor component of the diets of Malagasy hippopotamuses.

In 1902, a colonial administrator named Raybaud asserted that stories he heard in the highlands could only be about Malagasy hippos still living as late as 1878.

[4] The strength of these oral traditions led the IUCN to classify the Malagasy hippopotami as recent extinctions.

[4] One man in the village could accurately mimic the sound of many animals, and when asked to imitate the kilopilopitsofy, he made noises very similar to that of a hippopotamus, even though he had never left the island and said he had never seen an African hippo.