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In
1851, workmen digging clay in Messrs Longley's brick field in Wortley,
Leeds, discovered several huge bones, so big that it was thought
"they could not be Christians' bones".
As
a result, they were brought to the attention of Henry Denny, curator
of the Leeds Philosophical and Literary Society Museum, who identified
them as the bones of the Great Northern Hippopotamus. He visited
the site daily and collected many specimens.
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| Hippos
similar to this once roamed around Leeds! |
Although
a number of small bones were destroyed before the discovery of the
massive thigh bones, Denny gathered numerous bones and teeth which
enabled him to identify the animals.
There
were the part remains of three hippopotami - an aged individual
and two adults - an elephant and an auroch (extinct wild ox).
Later
research identified the animals as Hippopotamus amphibius, Elephas
primigenius and Bos primigenius.
The
bones were scientifically dated using a sample from a molar tooth.
The Hippo was found to be from around 130,000 - 117,000 years ago.
The
bones of the Leeds hippo are now kept at the Leeds Museum Resource
Centre.
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