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| hippopotamus [2021/10/23 14:37] – zookeeper | hippopotamus [2022/05/26 03:50] (current) – [HIPPOPOTAMUS] zookeeper |
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| Species: AMPHIBIUS | Species: AMPHIBIUS |
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| [{{ :hippo.png?nolink&400|//The laid-back look is somewhat deceiving - the hippo is perhaps the most vicious mammal in Africa, killing 500 or so people a year, as well as a number of other animals as well. They are, however, herbivorous.//}}] | [{{ :hippo.png?nolink&400|//The laid-back look is somewhat deceiving - the hippo is perhaps the most vicious mammal in Africa, killing 500 or so people a year, as well as a number of other animals as well. They are, however, largely herbivorous.//}}] |
| The larger of the two living hippopotanoids, both of which are commonly referred to simply as 'hippos'. The range of the wild hippopotamus once stretched up to North Egypt, but today it is just dotted throughout Central and South Africa. The preferred habitat of the hippo is wetland savannah, where land is close by. | **T**he larger of the two living hippopotanoids, both of which are commonly referred to simply as 'hippos'. The range of the wild hippopotamus once stretched up to North Egypt, but today it is just dotted throughout Central and South Africa. The preferred habitat of the hippo is wetland savannah, not straying far from land. |
| | ===== I. HIPPO EVOLUTION ===== |
| | Fossils attributed to hippopotami are relatively rare, so the evolution of the hippopotamus is still not largely understood. However, the hippopotamus shares a common ancestor with whales, which are thought to have evolved from small, four-legged land-living animals. However, it is thought that hippos and whales evolved aquatic lifestyle separately. Perhaps by taking to the water, the hippo could avoid predators by taking an unused niche. The ancestral hippo lived about 15 million years ago, and would spread around Europe and Africa. The largest of the hippos were found in Europe. Before the last Ice Age, only the African Hippos remained, and today, only two hippopotanoids live today - the Hippopotamus, and the Pygmy Hippopotamus, the smaller of the two. The Pygmy Hippopotamus belongs to the same family, but to a different genus.[{{ :pygmyhippo1.png?nolink&200|//This is a Pygmy Hippopotamus, the smaller of the two living hippopotanoids. Little is known about its species in the wild//.}}] |
