Hippos

Here are some facts about hippos:

The word 'hippopotamus' comes from the ancient Greek, meaning 'river horse'.

They only natively live in Africa.

Male hippos are called bulls; females are called cows.

Hippos live in groups of around 30. The 'groups' are called either pods, herds, dales, or bloats.

Hippopotamuses, or hippopotami (both terms are used), are a threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth.

They are the second largest of land mammals, after the elephant, and third largest of land mammals by weight, weighing between 1.5 to 3 tonnes.

They sharpen their teeth by grinding them against each other. The force of their bite is about 8100 N.

Hippos can kill crocodiles.

Hippos kill more people each year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes, and rhinos combined.

Humans have been trampled over by hippos, gored by them, and drowned by them (when they tip over their boats and pull the humans underwater).

Despite looking all overweight and having such short legs, they can easily outrun humans at a ranged speed of 30 to 40 km/hr.

Here's a map showing where they live now (green) and where they have lived in the past (red):

(See the difference?)

[Source: Wikipedia, Smithsonian  Magazine; Image: National Geographic]