 Like the modern pygmy hippopotamus, the Malagasy pygmy hippo had eyes on the side of its head rather than high orbits and teeth of the common hippopotamus.The Malagasy pygmy hippo was similarly less aquatic, with many of its fossils found in the forested highlands of Madagascar.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.