Is a hippo a horse? Why is it called a hippo?

Hippos are not horses, and although they have the word "horse" in their name, they are not close to horses. From the point of view of biological classification, hippopotamus belongs to the class Mammalia, cetacean Artiodactyla, river horse genus, while horses belong to the class Mammalia, Perissodactyla, horse genus. The two creatures are of different orders, so they are distantly related. Moreover, their habits are very different. Hippos can live in water and on land, but horses can only live on land.

Is a hippopotamus a horse?

a hippopotamus is a very large mammal.Some people think that hippopotamus is a kind of horse because of the "horse" in its name, but it just lives in rivers.In fact, the hippopotamus is not a horse, the two are two different animals, from the category point of view, the difference is relatively large.Hippopotamus belongs to Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla, Hippopotamus and Hippo, while horses belong to Mammalia, Perissodactyla, Equus and Equus, which are not closely related.

The difference between a hippo and a horse is quite big, and it is different in many ways.For example, from the point of view of the living environment is different, hippopotamus can move in the water, can also move on land; Horses, on the other hand, are basically on land.For example, the size of the hippopotamus compared with the horse will be much larger, the weight of the hippopotamus between 3000-3500 kg; The weight of large horses is generally 1200 kg, while that of small horses is only about 200 kg.In addition, the distribution range of the two is also different, hippopotamus is mainly distributed in the freshwater basin of Africa, while horses are widely distributed in the world.

2. why is the hippo called the hippo

The hippo is not a horse, and there is no close relationship between the two.So why is it called a "hippopotamus"? In fact, it has something to do with the Greek word and the English name of the hippopotamus.The English word for hippopotamus is "hippotamus." In Greek, "hippos" means horse, and "potamus" means river.This word is a foreign word, so the overall translation is hippopotamus, not that hippopotamus and horses have a close relationship.

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