Hippopotamus

Common hippopotamus
A hippopotamus in Tanzania
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Artiodactyla
Family:	Hippopotamidae
Genus:	Hippopotamus
Species:	H. amphibius
Binomial name
Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus, 1758 [1]
Range map of the African hippopotamus. Historic range is in red while current range is in green.[2]

The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius), or hippo, ancient Greek for "river horse" (Ιπποπόταμος), is a large mammal from Africa that usually eats plants. It is one of only two species in the family Hippopotamidae that are still alive. The other is the pygmy hippopotamus.

The hippopotamus is the second largest land animal in size and the third largest land animal in weight. The elephant is the heaviest and the white rhinoceros is the second heaviest, but a bit smaller than the hippo. The hippo is also the heaviest artiodactyl.

The hippopotamus is semi-aquatic. This means that even though it usually lives on the land, it spends a great amount of time in rivers and lakes where males lead groups of 5 to 30 females and young. In the daytime, they keep cool by staying in the water or mud. They give birth to baby hippos in the water, too. At dusk, they come out to graze on grass. Hippopotamuses rest together in the water, but they like to graze by themselves.

The hippopotamus has: a torso that is shaped like a barrel, a very big mouth and teeth, an almost hairless body, short legs and great size. It is the third largest land mammal, judging by its weight, which is between between 1½ and 3 tonnes. The white rhinoceros weighs 1½ to 3½ tonnes and the three species of elephant weigh 3 to 9 tonnes. Even though it has short, fat legs, it can run more quickly than a human. Some hippos have run at 30 km/h (19 mph) for short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the fiercest animals in the world. It is often called one of the most dangerous animals in Africa. There are about 125,000 to 150,000 hippos in Sub-Saharan Africa. Zambia (about 40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) have the most hippos. They are threatened because they are losing their habitats and being poached for their meat and ivory teeth.

1. ↑ "ITIS on Hippopotamus amphibius". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Archived from the original on 2014-08-26. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
2. ↑ "Hippopotamus amphibius". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017. IUCN: e.T10103A18567364. 2017. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T10103A18567364.en. Retrieved 2 June 2018. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |authors= ignored (help)^{[permanent dead link]}