Basic info Taxonomic history Classification Included Taxa
Morphology Ecology and taphonomy External Literature Search Age range and collections

Hippopotamus amphibius (hippo)

Mammalia - Hippopotamidae

Taxonomy
Hippopotamus amphibius was named by Linnaeus (1758). It is extant.

It was recombined as Hippopotamus (Tetraprotodon) amphibius by Falconer and Cautley (1836) and Arambourg (1979).

Synonyms
  • Hippopotamus incognitus was named by Faure (1984) [Sedgwick Museum, University of Cambridge]. Its type specimen is UCSM D 3980, a skull (skull and mandible), and it is a 3D body fossil. Its type locality is Barrington, which is in a Pleistocene terrestrial horizon in the United Kingdom.

    It was synonymized subjectively with Hippopotamus amphibius by Petronio (1995).
Synonymy list
YearName and author
1758Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus
1836Hippopotamus (Tetraprotodon) amphibius Falconer and Cautley p. 51
1911Hippopotamus amphibius Thomas p. 155
1977Hippopotamus amphibius Coryndon p. 70 figs. Fig. 6
1979Hippopotamus (Tetraprotodon) amphibius Arambourg
1984Hippopotamus incognitus Faure
1985Hippopotamus amphibius Geze p. 91
1990Hippopotamus amphibius Peters p. 86
2004Hippopotamus amphibius Geraads et al. p. 181
2008Hippopotamus amphibius Agnarsson and May-Collado p. 981 figs. Fig. 5
2010Hippopotamus amphibius Weston and Boisserie p. 858

Is something missing? Join the Paleobiology Database and enter the data

RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
—Bilateria
—EubilateriaAx 1987
—Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
superclassGnathostomata
—Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
subclassDipnotetrapodomorpha(Nelson 2006)
subclassTetrapodomorpha()
—Tetrapoda
—Reptiliomorpha
—Anthracosauria
subclassAmphibiosauriaKuhn 1967
—Cotylosauria()
—Amniota
subclassSynapsida
—Therapsida()
infraorderCynodontia()
—Mammaliamorpha
—Mammaliaformes
RankNameAuthor
classMammalia
—Theriamorpha(Rowe 1993)
—Theriiformes()
—Trechnotheria
—Cladotheria
—Zatheria
subclassTribosphenida()
subclassTheria
—Eutheria()
—Placentalia
—Boreoeutheria
—Laurasiatheria
—Scrotifera
—Euungulata
—Artiodactylamorpha
—Artiodactyla()
—Whippomorpha
superfamilyHippopotamoideaGray 1821
familyHippopotamidae
subfamilyHippopotaminaeGray 1821
genusHippopotamus
speciesamphibius

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

Hippopotamus amphibius Linnaeus 1758 [hippo]
show all | hide all
Invalid names: Hippopotamus incognitus Faure 1984 [synonym]
Diagnosis
No diagnoses are available
Body mass estimates
estimateequationreference
 633.4 kg Mammalia femur diameterGingerich 1990
 419.7 kg Mammalia humerus diameterGingerich 1990
 1.21 tons Mammalia tibia diameterGingerich 1990
mean: 685.4 kg
Measurements
partNmean
femur diameter153.0
humerus diameter150.1
radius diameter138.8
tibia diameter166.5

Composition: phosphaticsubp
Environment: terrestrialo
Locomotion: actively mobilec
Life habit: amphibiousg
Diet: grazerf
Diet 2: browserf
Reproduction: viviparoussubc
Created: 2012-04-17 11:18:49
Modified: 2012-04-16 20:18:49
Source: g = genus, f = family, o = order, subc = subclass, c = class, subp = subphylum
References: Gingerich 2003, Nowak 1999, Lillegraven 1979, Hendy et al. 2009, Carroll 1988, Nowak 1991

Age range: base of the Late/Upper Pliocene to the top of the Holocene or 3.60000 to 0.00000 Ma

Collections (173 total)


Time interval Ma Country or state Original ID and collection number
Pliocene - Calabrian5.333 - 0.774Ethiopia Hippopotamus amphibius (21989)
Pliocene - Pleistocene5.333 - 0.0117Congo-Kinshasa Hippopotamus amphibius (22346)
Pliocene - Pleistocene5.333 - 0.0117France (Auvergne-Rhône-Alps) Hippopotamus amphibius (44231)
Pliocene - Holocene5.333 - 0.0Congo-Kinshasa Hippopotamus amphibius (22125)
Late/Upper Pliocene3.6 - 2.588South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (22340)
Gelasian2.588 - 1.806Ethiopia Hippopotamus amphibius (21565 21567 21743 21745 22002)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781Greece (Macedonia) Hippopotamus amphibius (34781 34783)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781Spain (Granada) Hippopotamus amphibius (34898)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781France (Auvergne) Hippopotamus sp. (47830)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781Greece (Mygdonia) Hippopotamus amphibius (200083 200084)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781Algeria (Northern Algeria) Hippopotamus amphibius (197944)
Early/Lower Pleistocene2.588 - 0.781Germany (Rheinland-Pfalz) Hippopotamus amphibius (50000)
Early/Lower Pleistocene - Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Greece (Kozani) Hippopotamus amphibius (34764)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Egypt (Kom Ombo Plain) Hippopotamus amphibius (22508 22509 22513 22516 22521 22523 22524 22530 22544 22545)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Djibouti Hippopotamus amphibius (22482 22483 22484)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Georgia Hippopotamus georgicus (40398)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Kenya Hippopotamus amphibius (22268 22269 22270 38039)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (21695 21916 21929 21931 21953 21956 115191)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Israel Hippopotamus amphibius (39252)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Egypt Hippopotamus amphibius (21853 21885 21886 21887 21888 21890 21891 21892 21899 21901)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Greece (Peloponnisos) Hippopotamus amphibius (34809)
Pleistocene2.588 - 0.0117Tanzania (Serengeti Park) Hippopotamus amphibius (22576)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Sudan Hippopotamus amphibius (21869 21870 21872 21873)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Zambia Hippopotamus amphibius (21924)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Egypt (Kom Ombo Plain) Hippopotamus amphibius (22527 22528 22529 22532 22533 22534 22536 22537 22538 22539 22540 22542 22543)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Morocco Hippopotamus amphibius (21856)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (21711 21949 21950 21951 21952 21957)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0South Africa (Orange Free) Hippopotamus amphibius (21868)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Tanzania Hippopotamus amphibius (22184)
Pleistocene - Holocene2.588 - 0.0Congo-Kinshasa Hippopotamus amphibius (22085 22098 22099 22103)
Calabrian1.8 - 0.774South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (21923 21928)
Calabrian1.8 - 0.774Kenya (Rift Valley) Hippopotamus amphibius (21347)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129France Hippopotamus amphibius (42673)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Italy (Lazio Region) Hippopotamus amphibius (36134)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129United Kingdom (England) Hippopotamus amphibius (78014)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Italy (Molise) Hippopotamus amphibius (44092)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129United Kingdom (Suffolk) Hippopotamus amphibius (49813 49814)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Spain (Castilla-Leon) Hippopotamus amphibius (34925)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Germany (Baden-Wuerttemberg) Hippopotamus amphibius (50199)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Germany (Rheinland-Pfalz) Hippopotamus amphibius (50196 50198)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Italy (Verona) Hippopotamus amphibius (43654 43664)
Middle Pleistocene0.774 - 0.129Germany (Bayern) Hippopotamus amphibius (36220)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Kenya Hippopotamus amphibius (22272 22276)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Tanzania Hippopotamus amphibius (21893)
Middle Pleistocene - Late/Upper Pleistocene0.774 - 0.0117Greece (Lakonia) Hippopotamus amphibius (32059 32062)
Middle Pleistocene - Quaternary0.774 - 0.0Israel Hippopotamus amphibius (13490)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Spain (Valencia) Hippopotamus amphibius (205285 221412 221414 221415 221416)
Late/Upper Pleistocene (interglacial)0.129 - 0.0117South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (115167)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Congo-Kinshasa Hippopotamus amphibius (22065 22066)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (21709)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117United Kingdom (England) Hippopotamus amphibius (93817 93828 96782)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117Israel (Mount Carmel) Hippopotamus amphibius (11803)
Late/Upper Pleistocene0.129 - 0.0117United Kingdom Hippopotamus amphibius (93799 93800 93801 93802 93803 93804 93805 93806 93807 93808 93809 93810 93811 93812 93813 93814 93815 93816 93818 93819 93820 93821 93822 93823 93829 93830 93831 93832 93833 93834 93835 93836 93837 93838 93839)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0South Africa Hippopotamus amphibius (21917 21918 96973)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Niger Hippopotamus amphibius (83303 83304 83305)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Congo-Kinshasa Hippopotamus amphibius (22067 22068)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Tanzania Hippopotamus amphibius (21690)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Cote D'Ivoire Hippopotamus amphibius (21692)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Sudan Hippopotamus amphibius (21871 208786 208787)
Holocene0.0117 - 0.0Kenya Hippopotamus amphibius (21934 21938)