4 less-known facts about hippopotamus
1) Pygmy
An interesting living species of the hippopotamus that belongs to the same Hippopotamidae family is the rare pygmy hippopotamus. Fascinatingly, a pygmy hippo, unlike its other family members, is approximately only the size of a pig. Less gregarious than the common hippos, it occurs in the lowland tropical forests with one or two others or alone. The pygmy hippo is not as aquatic as its other family member, though, it hides in the water when pursued. There is a fossil in the archaeological archives resembling a pygmy hippo that dates to 21 million years ago.
2) Aquatic
4 less-known facts about hippopotamus
The lifestyle of a hippopotamus centers on the water. It must have regular dips in the pool. No other wild creature on earth loves water as much as a hippopotamus does. They seek refuge from the heat of Kenya savannahs and keep their massive physiques cool by submerging themselves in these water bodies for up to 16 hours during the day. They are good swimmers, graceful in the water, and can remain breathless underwater for five minutes. Hippos can breathe, see and even eat comfortably while mostly submerged in the water. They are such large animals with robust builds that they can lie in the shallows or merely stand or walk on the lake floor.
3) Red sweat
While basking in the sun, hippos lose water rapidly through the skin making them dehydrated. Therefore, when they are on the shoreline, they are often seen retreating to the water to cool off through periodic dips because they do not sweat. But nature provides them with a self-producing lotion that keeps their skin moisturized because the skin gets dry easily even after little exposure to the sun. Their skin glands release an oily pinkish or reddish substance, which acts as a skin moistener and sunblock by filtering out ultraviolet radiation, also protecting against germs. This lotion-like liquid that oozes out of their skin gives rise to the age-old legend that they sweat blood.
4)Mating ritual
The way the hippos show aggression during the breeding season is quite hilarious. Territorial bulls stare at each other, then with their rear end sticking out of the water, flip urine and feces in a full arc by wagging the tail. This routine indicates that it is an occupied territory. Most of the aggression of the opponents is noise, splash, a yawning display and bluff charges. But when they engage in combat, they slash each other upward with the lower incisors. Wounds can be deadly despite the thick skin there. Thankfully, these battles are sporadic, only erupting when strangers invade territories during the mating season
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