532. Great and Small Game of Africa 



THE HIPPOPOTAMI 



Family Hippopotami^:. Genus Hippopotamus 



Although nearly related animals, the hippopotami are distinguished 

 from the swine by numerous and easily recognised characters. Among 

 these are the clumsy, long, barrel-like body, the enormous head, with a 

 broad, squared muzzle, and the short, thick legs, terminating in four toes 

 encased in rounded hoofs, all of which touch the ground in walking. 

 Moreover, the middle pair of hoofs are not flattened on their adjacent 

 surfaces, while the lateral pair are not disproportionately small. In the 

 head notable features are the slit-like nostrils, placed rather close together 

 on the highest part of the muzzle, the prominent eyes, which project above 

 the plane of the face, and the small erect ears. The small tail is laterally 

 compressed. Very conspicuous are the huge curved tusks in each jaw, 

 between which, in the lower jaw, the large incisors project almost straight 

 forwards. Very characteristic, too, are the cheek-teeth, the hinder of 

 which show a distinct trefoil pattern on their grinding-surface, while the 

 last in the lower jaw has not the elongated form characterising the swine. 

 With the exception of bristles on the muzzle, face, neck, and tail, the 

 coarse and somewhat warty skin is bare. 



In former epochs of the earth's history hippopotami had a wide 

 distribution in the Old World, but are now restricted to Africa, where 

 they are represented by two species. 



A. Size very large ; two pairs of lower incisor teeth, 

 i. Common Hippopotamus (H. amphibius). 



R. Size much smaller ; normally one pair of lower incisors. 

 2. Liberian Hippopotamus (H. liberiensis) 



