Researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in UK have made an intriguing discovery about hippos: when these hefty herbivores reach their top speed, they occasionally lift all four feet off the ground, according to a report by Guardian citing a research.
The research published in PeerJ, places hippos between elephants and rhinos in terms of athletic ability among the heaviest land animals.
Professor John Hutchinson, leading the study on evolutionary biomechanics, explained the challenges of studying hippos due to their danger and nocturnal habits.
“I’ve struggled to get any work done on hippos before because they’re so hard to access. They’re incredibly dangerous, they tend to be most active at night, and they spend a lot of their time in the water,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.
Analyzing video footage, the team reportedly examined whether hippos achieved airborne moments, a phenomenon observed up to 15% of the time during high-speed pursuits, typically to fend off rivals.
Unlike elephants with a consistent walking gait and rhinos capable of trotting and galloping, hippos generally trot with synchronized diagonal leg movements but can switch to a more dynamic motion when necessary. The research sheds light on locomotion in large land animals and its evolutionary implications, offering insights into ancient giants like dinosaurs.
“It’s important for our understanding of what it means to be a big animal and move on land,” said Hutchinson.
The Guardian quoted Hutchinson as describing the study “as simple as biomechanics research can get”, but also as “mind-numbing.”
“It’s one of the things in my work that I hate the most. It’s really boring. Agonising.”
Hutchinson also said that pygmy hippos, a separate species from those in his study, are capable of galloping.
“I’m wondering if baby hippos can do something that adult hippos can’t. “That would be pretty neat,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.
The research published in PeerJ, places hippos between elephants and rhinos in terms of athletic ability among the heaviest land animals.
Professor John Hutchinson, leading the study on evolutionary biomechanics, explained the challenges of studying hippos due to their danger and nocturnal habits.
“I’ve struggled to get any work done on hippos before because they’re so hard to access. They’re incredibly dangerous, they tend to be most active at night, and they spend a lot of their time in the water,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.
Analyzing video footage, the team reportedly examined whether hippos achieved airborne moments, a phenomenon observed up to 15% of the time during high-speed pursuits, typically to fend off rivals.
Unlike elephants with a consistent walking gait and rhinos capable of trotting and galloping, hippos generally trot with synchronized diagonal leg movements but can switch to a more dynamic motion when necessary. The research sheds light on locomotion in large land animals and its evolutionary implications, offering insights into ancient giants like dinosaurs.
“It’s important for our understanding of what it means to be a big animal and move on land,” said Hutchinson.
The Guardian quoted Hutchinson as describing the study “as simple as biomechanics research can get”, but also as “mind-numbing.”
“It’s one of the things in my work that I hate the most. It’s really boring. Agonising.”
Hutchinson also said that pygmy hippos, a separate species from those in his study, are capable of galloping.
“I’m wondering if baby hippos can do something that adult hippos can’t. “That would be pretty neat,” the Guardian quoted him as saying.