Hipopótamo común
Photo © Wynand Uys
Photo © Wynand Uys — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #290205115El hipopótamo común (Hippopotamus amphibius), también llamado hipopótamo del Nilo o hipopótamo de río, es un gran mamífero artiodáctilo fundamentalmente herbívoro que habita en el África subsahariana. Es, junto al hipopótamo pigmeo (Choeropsis liberiensis), uno de los dos únicos miembros actuales de la familia Hippopotamidae.
Es un animal semiacuático que habita en ríos y lagos y donde machos adultos territoriales con grupos de cinco a treinta hembras y jóvenes controlan una zona del río. Durante el día reposan en el agua o en el fango y tanto la cópula como el parto de este animal suceden en el agua. Al anochecer se vuelven más activos y salen a comer hierbas terrestres. Aunque los hipopótamos descansan juntos en el agua, el pastar es una actividad solitaria y no son territoriales en tierra.
A pesar de su parecido físico con los cerdos y otros ungulados terrestres, sus parientes vivos más cercanos son los cetáceos (ballenas, marsopas, etc.) de los que divergieron hace aproximadamente cincuenta y cinco millones de años. El ancestro común de ballenas e hipopótamos se separó de otros ungulados hace aproximadamente sesenta millones de años. Los fósiles de hipopótamo más tempranos que se conocen pertenecen al género Kenyapotamus, encontrados en África y datados como de hace aproximadamente dieciséis millones de años.
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