Q 01/05

The word 'hippopotamus' comes from Ancient Greek words meaning what?

A) Water pig

B) River horse

C) Mud bull

D) Great mouth

Answer · why

B) River horse

Híppos is horse and potamós is river; the usual English plural is hippopotamuses.

Q 02/05

Which group of animals are the closest living relatives of hippos?

A) Pigs and peccaries

B) Rhinoceroses

C) Tapirs and horses

D) Whales and dolphins

Answer · why

D) Whales and dolphins

Blood proteins, DNA and fossils all point the same way; the two lineages split about 55 million years ago and share the suborder Whippomorpha.

Q 03/05

Roughly how much does an average adult bull hippo weigh?

A) 500 kg

B) 900 kg

C) 1.5 tonnes

D) 3 tonnes

Answer · why

C) 1.5 tonnes

Cows average about 1.3 tonnes; males seem to keep growing all their lives while females stop at around 25.

Q 04/05

Among land mammals, where does the hippo rank by size?

A) First

B) Second

C) Third

D) Fifth

Answer · why

C) Third

Only elephants and some rhinos are bigger; the hippo is classed as a megaherbivore.

Q 05/05

Modern zoo hippo tanks with underwater viewing use glass up to how thick?

A) 2 cm

B) 9 cm

C) 4 cm

D) 6 cm

Answer · why

B) 9 cm

One Ohio zoo spent $73 million from 2015 on an exhibit holding three adults in a 250,000-litre tank behind such glass.