Similarities in the behavior of a hippopotamus and predators. Hippopotamus - description, subspecies, range, nutrition, behavior and reproduction of hippos
09/12/2016 at 15:01 Moscow time 5 735
A hippopotamus, or as it is also called a hippopotamus, is a mammal that belongs to the order of artiodactyls and belongs to the Behemoth family.
A wild animal behaves quite aggressively towards a person; several dozen civilians die from a hippopotamus a year.
Appearance
The skin of the hippopotamus is brown, thickness is 4 cm, there is no vegetation except on the snout, there are short vibrissae. The body weight of an adult individual reaches from 3.5 - 4 tons.
But this is not the limit, according to some sources, a hippopotamus can weigh from 4200 - 4500 kg, although in fairness it should be noted that these sources do not provide specific evidence, except perhaps limited to only minor arguments.
The head of a hippopotamus weighs more than 900 kg., The jaws have a crushing force from the point of view of biochemical engineering. In the mouth of a wild beast there are 36 sharp teeth, in each of the jaws there is:
- two fangs;
- four incisors;
- six preroots;
- six molars;
The size of hippopotamus tusks is admirable. The length of the canine reaches 55 cm, and the weight is about 3 kg. During their lifetime, male and female hippos weigh almost the same. When hippos reach about 10 years of age, the male begins to rapidly gain weight, thereby overtaking the weaker sex in the weight category.
Tusks, fangs and incisors of a hippopotamus.
The body length of an adult hippo leaves - 3 meters, height - 1.65 meters. The legs are extremely short, when walking or running, the stomach can touch the ground. The belly is barrel-shaped.
The stomach of a hippopotamus has three chambers, with a capacity of more than 500 liters. The brain of a wild animal is large, intellectually developed poorly. At the moment, the number of individuals is about 125 - 150 thousand heads.
Habitat
The hippopotamus lives in the southern part of the African continent. But more recently, its range was much wider, it occupied the territories of North Africa, such as:
- Egypt
- Morocco
- Algeria
But centuries later, in the early Middle Ages, hippos ceased to exist in these territories.
Habitat
Hippos lead a high-water lifestyle. They prefer only fresh water bodies, but there are individuals who are not averse to spending time in the salty waters of the African continent.
They leave the reservoir only at night for eating, after a five-hour dinner they return back. Sleep an average of 15 hours. All this time he is under water.
A hippo emerges to the surface during sleep, in order to take another breath of air, after which it sinks back to the bottom. The animal swims slowly, mainly prefers shallow water bodies, moves in water with the help of powerful legs.
The hippopotamus cannot stay in the sun for a long time, the evaporation of water from the body is five times higher than that of any other animal. If the hippo cannot return to the water in time, its skin can overheat and crack, causing irreversible death.
Food
As we already know, the hippopotamus has a very massive physique, he needs to eat, respectively, a lot. He can walk in search of food then 30 km. The daily diet of a wild animal includes:
- grass;
- small reptiles;
Eats grass gently, plucking to keep the roots intact. The mass of the hippopotamus does not allow him to hunt, since hunting requires a good reaction, fast movement and skills. Our hero is not like that at all, so he eats everything that comes his way. We can definitely say that he is an omnivore.
reproduction
Puberty in hippos occurs at the age of 7 - 15 females, males from 6 - 14. The average age of puberty is 7.5 years. Mating takes place twice a season, in February and August.
There is one dominant male in the herd. In the mating season, males can enter into a violent physical conflict in which one is likely to die.
Hippopotamus with a cub photo
The female hippopotamus bears a cub for 8 months. After birth, the female mother begins to teach the baby to swim. The baby feeds on mother's milk, which is important, the cub sucks its breast under water. After giving birth, the next time the female can become pregnant after 18 months.
Lifespan
The hippo lives a little compared to other artiodactyls. The life span does not exceed 42 years.
- Hippos live much longer in zoos than in the wild. On average, they live up to 52 years.
- In the ancient culture of ancient Egypt, this animal played an important role. The powerful body of a hippo made people fear and submit to him.
- Many Athenian tribes consider it a totem animal, and hunting for it is strictly prohibited.
- In other tribes, they exterminate him for food.
Hippopotamuses, along with white rhinos, are the second heaviest land animals. The mass of his body, depending on the size, varies from 2.5 to 4.5 tons. The first place undoubtedly belongs to .
It is only from a distance that hippos seem to be such big and clumsy good-natured people, but in fact they can be a mortal danger for a person. No wonder they are considered one of the most dangerous animals in Africa.
Not so long ago, a couple of centuries ago, hippos were common throughout the African continent. Reservoirs simply teemed with them. But the ruthless extermination of these animals led to a sharp reduction in their numbers. Now hippos can only be found in Central and South Africa.
Hippo habitat: green areas - habitats in our time, red areas - the original territory of distribution In Greek, "hippopotamus" means "river horse". What caused the comparison with a horse remains a mystery to me. Perhaps the ability to move quickly. The running speed of a hippo while chasing short distances can reach 48 km / h.
The huge body of the hippo rests on short thick legs, the fingers of which are connected by a small swimming membrane. In length, the body of males reaches 4 meters plus 50 cm - the length of the flattened tail, in height - 1.5 m, and they weigh from 2.5 to 4.5 tons. The females are slightly smaller.
A large and wide head is decorated with small ears and eyes. At the end of the muzzle are large nostrils. All these parts of the body are located approximately at the same level, so the hippopotamus, when immersed in water, can leave them on the surface, while its entire body will be completely hidden under water.
The skin of the "river horse" is thick and rough, but despite this, it is very sensitive to sunlight. That is why hippos prefer to spend most of the day in water bodies, putting out only their eyes and nostrils from the water.
If a hippopotamus is forced to get out of the water during the daytime, then his skin begins to acquire a pinkish tint. This becomes possible thanks to a special secret produced by special skin glands. In the sun it starts to turn pink. Its main purpose is to protect the animal's skin from drying out and cracking under the influence of ultraviolet rays. In addition, the secret also has antiseptic properties.
The huge mouth of the hippopotamus is decorated with 44 teeth, the largest of which are fangs. The lower incisors form huge tusks. Hippo teeth grow throughout life. For protection, they are covered with a yellowish coating. During yawning or during battles, the mouth of a hippopotamus can open up to 120 degrees.
Behemoth teeth - a formidable weapon For a comfortable existence, the hippopotamus needs shallow water bodies with sandy shores. Another plus will be the branches of trees leaning towards the water, in the shade of which animals can hide from the scorching sun.
Hippos avoid fast and deep-water rivers. They need their feet to always touch the bottom and their heads to reach the surface. If they are completely immersed in water, then they rise to the surface for a breath of fresh air every 3-5 minutes. When immersed in water, the nostrils are closed with special valves, and the ears are pressed tightly against the head.
During sleep, such rises for a breath of air are made automatically. On the bottom, hippos move less quickly than on land. They do not swim, but push off with their feet from the bottom.
These giants live in small groups of 10-40 individuals. They consist of females, young and one male. Adult males live alone, and immature animals stay in separate small groups. They spend most of their lives in the water. They land on land only after sunset.
Each herd has its own territory, which is marked by the male with the help of litter. Very often, such areas are covered with deep trenches, the so-called. Hippo trails - "hippo paths". They arise as a result of everyday long-distance movements of the herd in search of food. Animals return the same way.
Hippos begin to feed after sunset. Their food is grass and near-water vegetation. To get enough, they need to eat about 50-70 kg of grass per day. Given the size, it's not that much. Their digestive system easily copes with such a difficult task, and all thanks to the three-chamber structure of the stomach and a long digestive tract.
Vegetable food is helped to process special microorganisms. During digestion, a lot of unnecessary and even harmful gaseous waste is produced in the stomach. Hippopotamuses release this gas not through the intestines, as in many animals, but through the mouth, yawning. Fortunately, it has no smell, otherwise visitors to zoos would not linger at the enclosures with these animals.
With the onset of the mating season, fierce fights unfold between single males, and sometimes with the death of one of the rivals. Opponents inflict deep bleeding wounds on each other. At the same time, it is not a fact that the winner will receive the location of the female. Fights can also occur when dividing territory.
Fight In this way, they deal not only with rivals, but also with enemies - lions, leopards and crocodiles, which are dangerous only for cubs. But mothers are always on the alert and will not give offense to their child. A female protecting her cub is ready to tear apart any opponent.
Crocodile fate 
But among the males there is a more peaceful way of resolving the issue of who will get the female - scattering the litter. In this case, they begin to diligently defecate and scatter excrement with their tails in different directions. How the winner is determined, I find it difficult to say. Probably someone will do it better :).
The winner starts courting the female. It begins with a demonstration of litter spraying. If the female liked the gentleman, then she answers him with the same procedure.
Such "weddings" take place before the onset of the drought period. Pregnancy lasts 8 months. After that, one cub weighing about 40-50 kg is born. Feeling the approach of childbirth, the female looks for a secluded corner. Birth occurs under water, in shallow water.
Young 
Feeding also takes place underwater. For a baby, this procedure is a difficult task. He has to dive every time and look for nipples. At first glance, there is nothing complicated here, but the catch is that the baby can stay under water for no more than 20 seconds. Therefore, to eat, he has to work hard. A year later, the cub switches to plant foods.
Until the onset of puberty, they stay close to their mother, after which, at the age of 6-7 years, they leave. Due to the lack of their territory, in young males, the first mating occurs late, at about the age of 15-20 years. Females bring offspring every 2 years.
Their life expectancy is from 30 to 40 years, in captivity - 50 years.
Hippos can be very ferocious and have been known to sink boats and attack unwary bystanders. In Africa, they cause more deaths than any other large animal.
Hippo meat is eaten with pleasure. The skin is a valuable raw material, and their fangs are valued on a par with ivory.
This huge animal seems at first glance extremely clumsy. However, anyone who has seen a hippo in the water will deny this assumption. how much a hippopotamus weighs, in the water it becomes very graceful, fast and even beautiful. What kind of animal is this, where does it live and what are its habits? The answers to these questions can be found below.
Origin
The name of the animal comes from two ancient Greek words: horse and river. It is easy to understand that you can call it. However, the hippo has nothing to do with horses. As well as with pigs, with which they are often compared. Its closest relative is, surprisingly, the whale.
A long time ago, about 60 million years ago, the planet was inhabited by the great-grandparents of modern animals. At some point, some of them remained on land, while others sank into the water. It happened about 55 million years ago. Despite the fact that hippos have chosen land, life without water is unthinkable for them, and it is needed not only to quench their thirst.
Hippopotamus
In general, this mammal belongs to and belongs to the hippopotamus family. Among land animals, it is the second largest after elephants. Males reach from 3.2 to 4.2 meters in length. How much does a hippopotamus weigh with such a body? About 1.5-3.2 tons. Females are smaller - they grow up to 2.7 meters in length, while they weigh only up to 2.5 tons.
In addition to the average, there is also a record known to man, which is 4 tons. This male is a real giant. The skin of the animal is very thick, up to 5 centimeters. It gathers in thick folds around the neck and chest. The body of the hippopotamus is squat, the huge mouth has a deep cut. Newborn hippos are pink, while adults are already grayish-brown. There is no hair on the skin.
Hippos grow in height up to one and a half meters. By maturity, large specimens can reach 165 centimeters. The tail is about 50-55 cm. Despite how much the hippopotamus weighs, it runs fast enough - it can reach speeds of up to 30 km / h. Unfortunately, its dimensions do not allow for marathons, but a distance of 5-6 hundred meters at such a speed is quite affordable.
The body structure of the hippopotamus is unique, it is designed for a long stay in the water. The eyes, ears and nostrils are set high to stay on the surface even when the whole animal is submerged in liquid. This gives the hippo the opportunity to survey the surroundings, while escaping from sunburn.
The jaws open at an angle of 150 degrees. In the open mouth, the wonderful teeth of the animal are perfectly visible. The height of the fangs is about 50 centimeters, while the incisors rise from the gums by only 30 centimeters. The upper incisors are short, while the canines continue to grow throughout the life of the animal. Each of these colossal teeth weighs up to three kilograms. Milk teeth are replaced by permanent teeth in about a year.
Interestingly, hippos cannot live without water - their skin dries out and becomes covered with painful cracks. That is why the giants try to spend as much time in the water as possible.
Enemies
Actually, given how much the hippopotamus weighs, we can say that it has no natural enemies. Even a hungry crocodile will not attack a hippo, although the reason for this is unknown - a large alligator could easily cope with a teenage hippopotamus.
The nature of hippos is very aggressive. There are frequent cases when they attacked a person - they broke or overturned the boat. Despite all this, the number of the species is decreasing. In the last 15 years alone, Africa has become 10% less of these animals. Currently, there are only about 150,000 hippos left.
Despite state prohibitions, the animal continues to be shot today. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the natives believe that this is a harmful and unnecessary animal that poses a danger to humans. Secondly, it has tasty and very nutritious meat. Predominantly due to these reasons, hippos are becoming less and less every day.
Habitat
Even at the beginning of the last century, these animals were found almost throughout Africa: from the mouth of the Nile to Cape Town. Today, it is rare to see a hippopotamus in the eastern or central part of the continent. However, even these meetings most often occur in national parks that protect this species of mammals.
During the day, the animals sleep in the water. They start searching for food with the advent of darkness. They return to the pond just before dawn. Each hippo has a personal path along which he gets to the pasture. The weight of the hippopotamus, which averages 3 tons, is gained thanks to nutritious grass and aquatic plants.
and reproduction
The average lifespan of a hippopotamus is 40-50 years. When kept in zoos, they can live up to 60 years. Tanga lived longer than other relatives - she spent 61 years. Currently, the elderly Donna Hippo, who is 60 years old, is being kept in America.
Sexual maturity occurs in females at 5 years of age. They can bear offspring up to 55. Males reach sexual maturity by 7-8 years. Bearing cubs lasts 8 months. The next conception is possible only after 18 months. Animals mate underwater. There is also the appearance of a small hippopotamus. Its birth weight is only 25 to 45 kg. A baby is born about 100 cm long, 50 cm high.
Barely born, the baby floats to the surface and inhales the air. On land, childbirth rarely occurs; females prepare for them in advance, trampling the ground in the supposed "maternity ward". Most often, one baby is born, twins are extremely rare. For about a year, cubs feed on mother's milk, from which the weight of a small hippopotamus grows very quickly, because milk has a high fat content. When immersed in water for feeding, babies close their nostrils and press their ears tightly against their heads to avoid water ingress.
Food
In search of food, animals can move away from water bodies at a distance of up to 8 kilometers. You have to spend at least 4-5 hours in the pasture to support the gigantic weight of the hippopotamus. An adult hippo is able to consume about 70 kg of vegetation per day. On rare occasions, they may eat carrion, but this only happens when food is scarce.
The width of the trenches along which animals make their way to pastures is equal to its thickness. Hippopotamuses guard their territory very zealously, even dividing water spaces. The main male has a section of the coast, reaching up to 250 meters in length. Up to 15 females live with him along with the cubs of the last year. Grown up males form their own groups.
Environmental impact
Although the natives do not see the benefit in these animals, they have a significant impact on the environment of water bodies and even on the lives of the people who inhabit this area. It has long been proven that in the reservoirs in which hippos live, phytoplankton is actively multiplying, which increases the biological productivity of living beings. That is, the more hippos in the lake, and the more lakes in the area, the more accompanying living creatures, such as fish, can be found here. And the more of this living creature, the more and more varied the food of people living nearby.
pygmy hippopotamus
In addition to the usual hippo, there is also this animal weighs only up to 275 kg with a height of 75-85 cm. Its length reaches 150 cm. Such an animal can live in captivity up to 55 years, while in the wild not everyone lives up to 30. Habitat - swamps and woodlands of western Africa. Ears, nostrils and eyes do not protrude as much on the head as those of huge brothers. The legs are noticeably longer relative to the body. The skin is dark green or brown. Dwarfs spend much less time in the water. This subspecies has only about three thousand individuals.
Hippos are quite rightly considered to be among the most dangerous African animals. But they pose a danger only to those who themselves are trying to threaten them. In fact, the hippo personality has traits that many of us might envy. In this article we will try to tell you more about these amazing animals.
The life of a hippopotamus is somewhat reminiscent of the life of a retired heavyweight boxer. Calm, outwardly clumsy and phlegmatic, a little gloomy, but not an aggressive homebody. There are practically no enemies, all the neighbors know him well and are the first to greet him, and who does not know, just in case, tries to stay away. He does not offend the little ones, he can even provide help on occasion. Home, family, prosperity - he has everything, and he does not need anything from someone else. But if the "gopniks in the gateway" stick, then ...
Don't believe? Judge for yourself: predators are afraid to attack a hippopotamus because it is painfully terrible in anger, and it is armed perfectly. Despite the fact that the hippopotamus is a herbivore, its teeth are perhaps the most terrible one can imagine, especially the lower fangs. They grow throughout their lives and reach a length of over half a meter. In a fit of rage, the hippo easily bites a giant Nile crocodile in half.
The African fat man also has a lot of cunning and ingenuity. A case is known when a lion attacked a hippopotamus, when he was grazing on the shore. Probably, the king of beasts was too hungry, or something happened to his head, because hippopotamus lions usually bypass them. But, one way or another, this lion coveted a hippopotamus chewing grass, for which he paid. He did not even tear him with his fangs and trample him with his strong legs, but simply grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him into the water, where it was deeper. There the poor fellow-lion choked.
And here is another case: a hippopotamus resting in the river was attacked by ... a shark. It was a rather large (about two meters) specimen of the so-called herring shark, which lives mainly in the ocean. But by some miracle, she was brought not only into the Mediterranean Sea, but also into the Nile Delta. And I must say, the herring shark is unusually aggressive and dangerous. Her teeth are long, sharp, bent back and form a solid palisade. In her element, she does not let anyone through: a fish, a marine animal, a person - everything goes to feed her.
And this predator decided to feast on a hippopotamus, but literally attacked the wrong one. Unlike the case with the lion, the hippo did the opposite to her - he dragged the sea monster to the shore and trampled it there. Who will now doubt that hippos have brains?
Of course, there is a predator on earth - cruel and merciless, capable of ruining any animal.
This is a person. But people, oddly enough, do not need anything from hippos (as, in fact, hippos do not need anything from people). They do not have valuable tusks or horns, teeth are not listed on the market. All that the hippo has is just meat, and even that is far from a delicacy. In the days of slavery, whips were made from the skin of hippos to drive slaves, but slavery was officially abolished, and the production of whips disappeared with it. So even people do not touch hippos.
Hippos lead a secluded lifestyle. You can walk several kilometers along the banks of the Nile and not meet a single hippo, and then suddenly it turns out that you have passed dozens of animals and simply did not notice them. You can swim in a boat a couple of meters from a hippopotamus and not pay attention to it.
Among the garbage that the Nile carries into the sea, it’s hard to see a pair of small black “floats” - this hippo escapes from the heat, putting out only its eyes and nostrils. During the day, the animals lie at the bottom of the river. Their ears are "plugged" with special membranes that prevent water from entering. So, in the daytime, the hippopotamus is starving, and it goes out on the promenade only at night, and here it comes off in full in terms of feeding. To feed themselves, the hippopotamus has to eat 50-60 kilograms of grass per day.
By the way, hippos do not like to travel, they do not search for food in distant lands, but prefer to grow grass themselves, in their own, so to speak, "garden". They do this in the following way: having limited a certain area for feeding themselves and their families, these animals regularly and diligently fertilize it with their own feces.
And in order for the fertilizer to be distributed evenly, the animal “in the process”, so to speak, vigorously turns its tail, like a propeller. As a result, the "garden" of the hippopotamus, like a good farmer's, is always fertilized with high quality and brings an excellent harvest. And you don't have to follow him far.
Here it is worth noting that female hippos, while searching for a betrothed, meticulously monitor not the ability of males to care for the opposite sex, but their success in agriculture. The more powerfully the tail of a male hippopotamus spins, the more he gives out feces and the farther he scatters them, the greater the chances for the groom: it means that his family will live in abundance and will not die of hunger. A real marriage of convenience. But, perhaps, in this case, this is the right approach.
Of course, in the environment of hippos, as in any other, it is not without conflicts. Sometimes during the mating season or during the distribution of food places, the matter ends in a fight, and blood is shed. But often the dispute about brides and territory is resolved quite peacefully. Male hippos periodically find out which of them is larger.
Usually a contender for power approaches the commander in chief in the clan and stands nearby. Both hippos carefully examine each other, and the one who did not come out tall bashfully retires home, and the larger specimen becomes (or remains) the “boss”. The war can only start if both contenders have the same weight category.
As for such hippo traits as kindness and generosity, here are a few examples for you.
The famous zoologist Dick Recassel witnessed how a crocodile attacked one of the antelopes that came to the watering hole. A hippo resting nearby came to the aid of an animal beating in the teeth of an alligator. He recaptured the antelope from the crocodile, pulled it ashore and began ... to lick its wounds.
“The rarest case in the animal kingdom,” Recassel comments. - A real manifestation of mercy, and to a representative of a completely different species! Alas, help came too late. Half an hour later, the antelope died from shock and blood loss. But the hippopotamus remained near her for another quarter of an hour, driving away the flocked vultures, until the sun forced him to return back to the river.
And quite recently, visitors to the reserve in Kenya had a chance to observe the actions of a hippopotamus - almost a professional rescuer. Here is how it was. Wildebeest and zebra crossed the Mara River. An antelope cub, separated from its mother by the current, began to sink. Then a hippopotamus emerged from the water and began to push the baby to the shore.
Soon, he safely got out on land and joined his mother, who all this time could only helplessly watch what was happening. In less than ten minutes, the same hippo rescued a drowning zebra. He helped her keep her head above the water and, like the "antelope", pushed her to land.
So these hippos are not such simple animals.
If someone is interested in who the hippopotamus and hippopotamus are, the differences between them, then you should read the publication proposed here. We will try to cover in detail all the issues related to these interesting mammals.
Common hippopotamus and hippopotamus - differences
Do not lead the reader by the nose for a long time, tormenting him with omissions. If the question concerns an animal called an ordinary hippopotamus, then it is worth noting that it belongs to the Behemoth family, which also has a Latin name - Hippopotamidae. Trying to read this word, everyone will understand why this animal can have two names.
In other words, the name “hippopotamus” and “hippopotamuses” are equally suitable for this mammal. There is no difference between the animals they name. Just one word is the species name of a mammal, and the second is broader in meaning. It indicates the family that the species belongs to. In this case, "behemoth" and "hippopotamus" are one and the same.
The etymology of these words
So, we came to the conclusion that the definitions "common hippopotamus", "hippopotamus" are synonyms, but derived from the roots of words from different languages.
The first name came to us from Hebrew. It means "beast" in translation. But the second word - "hippopotamus" - is Latin. Moreover, in Latin it came from the Greek language. It is from the "hippo" that the international scientific name of these mammals originated. It literally means "river horse".
Thus, there are differences between the words "behemoth" and "hippo". Just to find them, you need to look into
Pygmy and common hippos - different species and different families
Previously, these two species were assigned to the same genus. In scientific circles, he was called Hippopotamus, that is, "hippo". Apparently, then these words appeared in the dictionaries of synonyms in the same row.
But more recently, it has been found that there are big differences between these species. And therefore, they singled out for a separate genus, which is called Hexaprotodon, after the name of extinct hippos.
So the answer to the question of how a hippopotamus differs from a hippopotamus can be a pun. It is in it that the main semantic features of these two words are revealed. "Every hippo is a hippo, but not every hippo is a hippo."
Who is the ancestor of hippos?
It just so happened that hippos and pigs began to be considered the closest relatives. And this opinion prevailed for many years. But it turns out that hippos are closer not to pigs and wild boars, but ... whales! Although so far this is only the assumption of scientists. And not everyone from the world of science accepts this statement as truly true.
According to the modern version, about fifty million years ago, there was a kind of animal on Earth, close in size to the current raccoon, which was given the name - indochius. Subsequently, thanks to evolution, his descendants were divided into two branches. Whales came from one, and hippos came from the other.
To date, only two species of these mammals remain on the planet. These are common and pygmy hippos. They both live on only one continent - in Africa.
Differences between pygmy hippos and ordinary hippos
In appearance, these mammals are very similar. Pygmy hippos seem to be smaller copies of ordinary ones. However, they are different animals. And answering the question, what is the difference between a hippopotamus and a hippopotamus, you should probably compare them. After all, the differences between these two species living today are observed not only in size, but also in the structure of the skeleton, skull, and the number of teeth.
Pygmy hippos have longer legs and neck than common ones. Their skull is also smaller. If the spine of the hippopotamus usually has a horizontal arrangement, then in pygmy hippos the back is somewhat tilted forward.
The differences between these species can even be "read on the face." In pygmy hippos, the nostrils and eyes protrude less noticeably than in ordinary ones. Yes, and their toes are more apart. Moreover, the membranes in the dwarf species are expressed to a much lesser extent.
An interesting detail is the sweat color of pygmy hippos. He's pink! But do not think that it contains blood particles - this is not at all the case.
It is also worth noting the difference in the behavior of pygmy and common hippos. Hippos are quite aggressive creatures. They are passionate about protecting their territory. Pygmy hippos usually do not care if a stranger inadvertently wanders into their habitat. They never arrange internecine wars over territory, they practically do not fight over females.
It is this feature of them that allows you to keep small hippos as pets. Although in adulthood they can reach a weight of two hundred and eighty kilograms. But this is not four and a half tons, which are the adult hippos!
Dwarf hippos differ from ordinary hippos in that they prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. Hippos usually live in compact flocks.