When you imagine the kind of wildlife native to Yorkshire, hippopotamuses are probably not the first species that spring to mind. And, sure, these days if you go for a stroll through the Dales you're definitely not going to run into one of them. But prior to the last ice age, they were actually a common sight across much of the UK, and so it's not as uncommon as you'd think for their fossilised remains to be dug up by archaeologists - and that's how the skeleton now known as the Armley or Leeds hippo was first found. And, look, I know an entire podcast episode about a collection of old bones doesn't sound very exciting (I mean, it's not even a full skeleton! Just a partial one!), but I promise this story is a lot more interesting than you might think.
Original air date: 13th May 2025
Important note: Unfortunately I wasn't able to import my show when I was switching hosting platforms, and as a result I'm having to re-upload my podcast from the start. Because of that, these early episodes are not indictive of the show's current quality - both in terms of the equipment used and my own skills as a writer & presenter - so apologies for that! Hopefully before too long I'll have caught up to my current output. In the meantime, you can check out my full back catalogue of episodes, and catch up with my newer content, over on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLp6MWEI1w5ZrPiEM7zZKmgvtqhmWWbpeB
Show notes: (for content warnings, sources used, related non-profits, etc)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nYM8ykaz-Yf39hQoXacyCf8036flPy1CyqxH2jMoliQ/edit?usp=sharing
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