The hippopotamus is widely distributed throughout sub-Saharan Africa but its range is now highly fragmented. The only other living species of hippopotamid, the pygmy hippopotamus, is found only in a few scattered locations in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Coté d’Ivoire.

The word “Hippopotamus” is derived from Greek and means “River horse.” The Fante word for hippopotamus is “Nsusun,” which means “Water elephant.” In fact hippopotamids are not closely related to either horses or elephants. Traditionally they have been grouped in the Order Artiodactyla, or even-toed hoofed mammals, but studies of nuclear DNA, mitochondrial DNA, and fossils all indicate that their closest relatives are not their fellow hoofed mammals at all, but rather the Order Cetacea, which comprises the whales, including the dolphins. The last common ancestor of hippopotamids and whales is believed to have lived some 55-60 mya. (more…)