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Hippopotamus - HIPPOPOTAMUS AMPHIBEUS
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Hippopotamus": "Hippopotamus" is a Greek combination of "hippo potamus" meaning "horse (of the) river." "Amphibeus" means "double life" in Greek, since the hippopotamus lives a life in the water and a life on land - just as the amphibious frogs and toads.
Location: Sub-Saharan Africa, except the southernmost part.
Habitat: Amphibious. Rivers and lakes. surrounded by grassland.
Description: The body is a uniform brownish gray dorsally, paler beneath, with pinkish areas on the face. The eyes, nostrils, and ears can all remain above the surface of the w5ter when the rest of the hippo is submerged, like a crocodile. The hide is hairless. The canine teeth are long and curved. The long incisors point forward in the lower jaw and downward in the upper jaw, and rub against each other as they grow. This is the second largest land animal (only the elephant is larger), with short legs, a massive body, and a large head. The adiult hippo can reach fifteen feet long, almost five feet at the shoulders. It weighs over two and one half tons!
Behavior: The hippopotamus is well adapted to an amphibious (two-lives: one in water and one out of water) life. It spends most of its time submerged in water. It emerges at sundown to feed on the grassy plains along the riverbank. It swims well, but usually walks on the river bottoms. It usually lives in groups of ten to fifteen individuals, but can mass in groups of thousands - especially in times of drought and few water holes. Little is known about the social structure. Hippos often fight violently with each other, frequently opening their mouths widely as a threat signal.
Reproduction: At irregular intervals, after a gestation period of 227-240 days, the female produces a single calf which she nurses for four to six months. The calf is born and is nursed underwater!
Note: The hippopotamus kills more people in Africa than any other mammal.
Go to the Artiodactyla Page to learn more about all the even-toed hoofed animals.
Go to the Pygmy Hippopotamus for
the only other Hippopotamus listed in America Zoo.
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