Brett Borer Prof. Scully BISC 1006 4 March 2016 Evolutionary Context of the Hippopotamus The Hippopotamus amphibius is one of nature’s greatest achievements with a large cylindrically shaped body, hairless skin, and short stout legs. As the third largest mammal in the world, the hippo’s entire body is supported by small legs and can be found completely submerged in water to allow for support of its massive frame. The hippo has gained many key evolutionary advantages that include enlarged canines and closed nostrils that have allowed it to continue to survive for millions of years. Evolution is defined as the change in gene frequency in a population from one generation to the next. As the hippos have evolved, they continued to demonstrate …show more content…
But there is evolutionary context that shows direct descendants of the hippo from the whale family and shared traits from humans. The hippo eventually evolved from the Mammalia class, which is the same as humans. In actuality, humans and hippos are similar in many ways such as giving birth. After conception, they both carry the fetus for eight to nine months and then give birth. On the evolutionary tree, the first clade on the lineage of hippos is Artiodactyla which means even toed ungulate including pigs - the body shape of the hippo mimics a similar body shape of pigs. The second clade, Cetruminantia, created what is now known as land raising mammals. The final clade is Whippomorpha which stems to form hippopotamus and whales. To explore this further, hippos and whales share the same trait of being large and aquatic, but they evolved these features separately from each other. Another key item to consider about hippos and whales is the central angle bones. From the ear bones to the ankle bones, whales are associated with the hippos and other artiodactyl …show more content…
Hippos predominantly inhabit water and were called “river horse” by the greeks. Hippos spends most of their life in water, but can still walk on land. The gravitation to move towards the water is unknown, but it is possible that due to the lack of food hippos were drawn to the water in order to ensure survival. Overtime, hippos have grown tremendously in size, yet their food intake is relatively low. Researchers believe that hippos survived a major catastrophe on earth and were able to have access to more food resources and gain the weight that has contributed to their current enormous stature. A hippo can weigh up to 3,200 kilograms, which is approximately 7,000 pounds. Scientists have also related the sex of the hippo to its body weight because most males usually weigh more than females. Their broad head and massive eyes allow them great evolutionary advantages to attack prey and live under water; however, hippos are considered extremely speedy on land. One of the major misconceptions of hippos is that they are docile creatures; however, they are the most aggressive animals on earth and have been recorded to run about 18 to 31