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The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a large, mostly plant-eating African mammal, one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae (the other being the Pygmy Hippopotamus).
The hippopotamus is a semi-aquatic mammal, inhabiting rivers and lakes in sub-Saharan Africa in large groups of up to 40 hippos. During the day they remain cool by staying in the water or mud; reproduction and childbirth both occur in water, where territorial bulls preside over a stretch of river. While hippos rest near each other in territories in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land.
Despite their physical resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living relatives are cetaceans—whales, porpoises and the like. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around . The earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around .
Although there are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, they are still threatened by poaching and habitat loss. (Read more...)
