Yahoo Web Search

Search results

  1. People also ask

    • Description
    • Species
    • Habitat and Range
    • Diet
    • Behavior
    • Reproduction and Offspring
    • Evolutionary History
    • Conservation Status
    • Threats
    • Sources

    Hippos aren't the world's largest land mammals—that honor belongs, by a hair, to the largest breeds of elephants and rhinoceroses—but they come pretty close. The biggest male hippos can approach three tons and 17 feet, and apparently, never stop growing throughout their 50-year life span. The females are a few hundred pounds lighter, but every bit ...

    While there is only one hippopotamus species—Hippopotamus amphibius—researchers recognize five different subspecies, corresponding to the parts of Africa where these mammals live. 1. H. amphibius amphibius, also known as the Nile hippopotamus or the great northern hippopotamus, lives in Mozambique and Tanzania; 2. H. amphibius kiboko, the East Afri...

    Hippos spend most of each day in shallow water, emerging at night to travel to "hippo lawns," grassy areas where they graze. Grazing only at night allows them to keep their skins moist and out of the African sun. When they're not grazing on grass—which at night takes them into the African lowlands several miles away from the water and for periods o...

    Hippos eat between 65–100 pounds of grass and foliage each night. Somewhat confusingly, hippos are classified as "pseudoruminants"—they're equipped with multiple-chambered stomachs, like cows, but they do not chew a cud (which, considering the huge size of their jaws, would make for a pretty comical sight). Fermentation takes place primarily in the...

    If you ignore the difference in size, hippopotamuses may be the closest thing to amphibiansin the mammal kingdom. In the water, hippos live in loose polygynous groups made up mostly of females with their offspring, one territorial male and several unallied bachelors: The alpha male has a section of beach or lake edge for a territory. Hippopotamuses...

    Hippopotamuses are polygynous: One bull mates with multiple cows in his territorial/social group. Hippo females usually mate once every two years, and the bull mates with whichever cows are in heat. Although mating can occur throughout the year, conception only occurs from February to August. The gestation period lasts nearly a year, with births ta...

    Unlike the case with rhinoceroses and elephants, the evolutionary tree of hippopotamuses is rooted in mystery. Modern hippos shared a last common ancestor, or "concestor," with modern whales, and this presumed species lived in Eurasia about 60 million years ago, only five million years after the dinosaurs had gone extinct. Still, there are tens of ...

    The Internal Union for the Conservation of Nature estimates that there are 115,000–130,000 hippos in central and southern Africa, a sharp drop from their census numbers in prehistoric times; they classify hippos as "vulnerable," experiencing a continuing decline in area, extent, and quality of habitat.

    Hippopotamuses live exclusively in sub-Saharan Africa (though they once had a more widespread distribution). Their numbers have declined most precipitously in the Congo in central Africa, where poachers and hungry soldiers have left only about 1,000 hippos standing out of a previous population of almost 30,000. Unlike elephants, which are valued fo...

    Barklow, William E. "Amphibious Communication with Sound in Hippos, Hippopotamus Amphibius." Animal Behaviour68.5 (2004): 1125–32. Print.
    Eltringham, S. Keith. "3.2: The Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus Amphibius)."Pigs, Peccaries, and Hippos: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Ed. Oliver, William L.R. Gland, Switzerland: I...
    Lewison, R. and J. Pluhácek. "Hippopotamus amphibius." The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.e.T10103A18567364, 2017.
    Walzer, Chris, and Gabrielle Stalder. "Chapter 59 - Hippopotamidae (Hippopotamus)." Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine, Volume 8. Eds. Miller, R. Eric and Murray E. Fowler. St. Louis: W.B. Saund...
    • Bob Strauss
  2. Oct 8, 2024 · It begins to eat grass by one month and is weaned at six to eight months of age. Cows produce a calf every two years. Young calves are vulnerable to crocodiles, lions, and hyenas. It is thought that attacks on small boats are antipredator behaviour, with the hippos mistaking the boats for crocodiles.

  3. Hippos can store two days' worth of grass in their stomachs and can go up to three weeks without eating. Hippos vocalize on both land and in the water and are the only mammals that make amphibious calls.

  4. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › HippopotamusHippopotamus - Wikipedia

    Hippos spend most of the day in water to stay cool and hydrated. Just before night begins, they leave the water to forage on land. A hippo will travel 3–5 km (1.9–3.1 mi) per night, eating around 40 kg (88 lb) of grass. By dawn, they are back in the water. [36]

  5. May 7, 2024 · Pygmy Hippos consume little grass; main food items are leaves and roots of forest plants, fruits, ferns. Higher quality diet than that of Common Hippo. Both Common and Pygmy Hippos are absolutely dependent on vegetation near permanent rivers and streams.

  6. Hippos are herbivores that primarily feed on grass, but they also consume aquatic plants, leaves, shoots, and fruits. Their diet varies depending on the availability of food in their habitat. They obtain most of their nutrients from grass, which makes up the bulk of their diet.

  1. People also search for