The findings are the following:
1) Lepus timidus Linne:
it concerns a rabbit that lived during the Pleistocene
Period in Greece and the greater surrounding area of the Balkans. Only small
fragments of the upper jaw with particles of the cheekbones and a few of its
teeth were found. The above representative is the ancestor of the modern
subspecies Lepus t. timidus.
2) Hippopotamus antiquus
Desmarest Syn. Hippopotamus antiquus major Nesti:
A few bone fossils were found, that belong to the
characteristic representative of the Artiodactilon that lived in Peloponissos
during the Upper Pleistocene Period
(300 thousand years ago). These
bones are a small radius (right), a shin (right) and an ankle (right), and are
in very good condition, fully petrified. The presence of the Hippopotamus
inside the cave is explained by Prof. I. Melendis as taking shelter
caused by drought. But the appearance of the bones and their petrifaction in
general, show that they have been petrified in lignite deposits that exist in
the area of Megaloupolis and not in the Cave of the Lakes.
3) Capra hireus Linne:
it concerns a wild goat of which the scull, part of the upper jaw, some
vertebra and other small bones of the members where found, all surrounded by
lime, which means that the first stage of petrifaction had started.
4) Cervus elaphus Linne:
it concerns a common deer that lived, and continues to live today in Greece.
From the animal findings of the
excavation of the Paleo-fauna, it
is proved that the cave was inhabited from the Second Mesopagetodi PERIOD (450
thousand years ago) till today. The oldest inhabitant of the cave seems to
have been the Hippopotamus antiquus whose
bones have been fully petrified.
