raw inquiry has discovered that the brazen-faced bodies ofhipposgo airborne when they trot , building up enough upper to get all four of their trotter off of the footing at the same time . They might not be giving Superman a run for his money , but the discovery has unwrap that these animals are more athletic than we give them reference for , even if they ca n’t float .
If you tick on this clause incredulous at the accusation that hippos ca n’t drown , then hoo boy , do we have news for you . Despite the raw - to - science breakthrough that they get airborne on land ( more on this afterwards ) , it ’s also true that hippos ca n’t swim ; instead , they walk and bounce across the riverbed . This is because they are too slow to be adrift at system of weights of around 2,000 kilogram ( 4,409 pounds ) , so instead necessitate to push off of something to keep returning to the surface .
This was show stunningly by Cincinnati Zoo ’s world ’s illustrious hippo Fiona back in 2020 .
What they miss in swim accomplishment it seems they make up for in their talent for trotting , as a new analysis has uncover that they can get all four foot off the earth simultaneously for around 15 percent of the time when going full speed . The discovery is thought to be a world - first , changing the style we view hippos ’ athleticism .
“ We show with basic video footage that hippos essentially only trot even at near - maximal hurrying , and at those speeds they do get airborne with all four feet , ” said study co - author Professor John R Hutchinson onX , “ Which , to our cognition , is new to science – and cool ! ”
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Cool is most unquestionably the right Good Book . In a YouTube video that was inbuilt to the discovery , you may actually see the hippos ’ talent at work . As it bounce along the miry ground , sure enough , all four feet are in the air together several times as it bear on on its merry way .
“ Our study was about as simple as biomechanics research can get , ” Hutchinson order in astatement . “ Anyone can take a camera or net videos and learn something about how animals move from that footage . ”
“ It ’s hard to work with Hippopotamus amphibius as they be given to stupefy to the water , and very seldom are educate to be studied in zoo aggregation . They ’re also very dangerous . That ’s part of the understanding why science know little about how hippos move before our research . ”
Hippos model alongside the hoofed hoofed mammal in the purchase order Artiodactyla , but they themselves do n’t have hoof . rather , hippos have unequaled , tough , and heavy feet with net toes that abide them well on land , and help them move through the water .
As this novel research show , they trot even when affect at high f number and as a final result , their foot can leave the background for up to 0.3 seconds . It ’s a flight time that might not get you far , but one that puts them at an impressive stratum of athleticism – and it seems the field of study author harmonize .
“ Hippos exhibit relatively peachy acrobatic capacity than elephants in several ways , ” they write , “ but perhaps not large thanrhinoceroses . ”
Well , you ca n’t thrum ‘ em all .
The work is published inPeerJ.
