nPostednon February 15, 2015
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nInnever saw a creature that looked less like a horse:
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nHowever,nthe word hippopotamus means “river horse” in AncientnGreek. n
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n1)nThe hippopotamus (thankfully, there is a well-known short version ofnthe animal’s name: hippo) is the third largest land mammalnalive today. (Do you know the two largest? Answers below.)
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| You can see here why hippos are classed as “even-toed” creatures. |
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n2)nHippos eat mostly plants. (Do you know what plant-eaters arencalled?)
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3) In the past, hippos were judged closest to pigsnand other even-toed creatures like camels, cattle, and deer. However,nbiologists now know that the semi-aquatic hippo is more closelynrelated to fully aquatic mammals. (Aquatic means living in water. Cannyou guess which aquatic animals are most closely related to hippos?)
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4)nHippos are heavy, pudgy-looking, short-legged creatures – but theyncan easily outrun a human. (Can you guess how fast they can run?)
4)nHippos are heavy, pudgy-looking, short-legged creatures – but theyncan easily outrun a human. (Can you guess how fast they can run?)n
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n5)nSome of the most famous hippos in the world include some gamingnhippos, some amusement park hippos, and some dancing hippos. (Can younguess what three hippos-in-pop-culture I am talking about?)
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nANSWERS:
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nOnlyn elephants and rhinos are larger land mammals.
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nPlant-eatersn are called herbivores.
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nThen closest living relatives to hippos are the whales, dolphins, andn porpoises!
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nOvern short distances, hippos can run up to 19 mph (30 km/h). The averagen person can only run 6 or 7 mph, and runners can get up to about 11n mph. The fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, is amazing at sprintingn short distances and could probably outrun hippos, traveling at moren than 23 mph for a few seconds!
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nThen game hippos are Hungry Hungry Hippos. The amusement park hippos aren the hippos on Disney’s Jungle Cruise – the ones who wiggle theirn ears to (supposedly) show that they are going to attack the boat.n And the dancing hippos are also Disney creatures – they appear inn the movie Fantasia.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nKamakuranSnow Cave Festival
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nRemembernthe Maine Day
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nWomen’snrights activist Susan B. Anthony’s birthday
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nNationalnFlag of Canada Day
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nPlannahead:
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nChecknout my Pinterest boards for:
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nFebruaryn holidays
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nFebruaryn birthdays
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nAndnhere are my Pinterest boards for:
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nMarchn holidays
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