Hippopotamus (genus)

Etymology

The Latin word hippopotamus is derived from the ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος (grc), from ἵππος (grc) and ποταμός (grc) , together meaning . In English, the plural is "hippopotamuses".

Anatomy

Hippos have a barrel-shaped body, short legs, big mouths, short tails with hair at the tips, four-toed hooves with webbing, big canines used for defense, big upper lips with sparse whiskers, and two little ears on top of their heads. Their eyes, also on top of their heads, have horizontal oval-shaped pupils, and can range from brown to green. They have two nostrils that can shut underwater.

Species

The species of the genus Hippopotamus include:

Extant species

• Hippopotamus amphibius, hippopotamus

Extinct species

• †Hippopotamus aethiopicus (Africa, Early Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus antiquus, (Europe, Early-Middle Pleistocene) considerably larger than living hippopotamuses
• †Hippopotamus behemoth (West Asia, Early Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus creutzburgi, Cretan dwarf hippopotamus (Early Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus gorgops (Africa, West Asia, Early Pleistocene-early Middle Pleistocene) considerably larger than living hippopotamuses
• †Hippopotamus kaisensis (Africa, Late Pliocene-Early Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus melitensis, Maltese hippopotamus (Middle-Late Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus minor, Cyprus dwarf hippopotamus (late Middle Pleistocene-Late Pleistocene, synonym Phanourios minor one of the smallest known hippopotamuses)
• †Hippopotamus pentlandi, Sicilian hippopotamus (Middle-Late Pleistocene)
• †Hippopotamus sirensis (Africa, Early Pleistocene, possibly a synonym of H. gorgops)
• †Malagasy hippopotamuses (Late Pleistocene-Holocene)
  • †Hippopotamus madagascariensis, Madagascar dwarf hippopotamus
  • †Hippopotamus lemerlei, Lemerle's dwarf hippopotamus
  • †Hippopotamus laloumena, Malagasy hippopotamus

References

References

1. "Fossilworks: Hippopotamus".
2. "Fossilworks: Hippopotamus amphibius".
3. {{LSJ. i(ppopo/tamos. ἱπποπόταμος, {{LSJ. i(/ppos. ἵππος, {{LSJ. potamo/s. ποταμός. ref.
4. "Hippopotamus".
5. {{OEtymD. hippopotamus
6. "Plural of hippopotamus".
7. (1952). "Fact and Fiction in Hippopotamology (Sampling the History of Scientific Error)". Osiris.
8. van der Made J, Sahnouni M & Boulaghraief K. 2017. [https://www.mncn.csic.es/sites/default/files/inline-files/2017%20Van%20der%20Made%20ea%20-%20Hippopotamus%20-%20El%20Kherba%20-%20ProcIIMeetingAfrPrehist.pdf ''Hippopotamus gorgops'' from El Kherba (Algeria) and the context of its biogeography]. In Proceedings of the II Meeting of African Prehistory: Burgos 15-16 April, 2015, Sahnouni M, Semaw S, Rios Garaizar J (eds). CENIEH: Burgos; 135–169.