Can Hippos Fly? New Research Discovers Hippos Can Get Airborne

Scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, have made a discovery: hippos, despite their hefty size, can briefly become airborne. This revelation came after extensive video analysis of hippos in motion, conducted by evolutionary biomechanics professor John Hutchinson and his team.

The research team closely examined footage of hippos running, including videos shot by student Emily Pringle at Flamingo Land resort in North Yorkshire. They found that hippos, when reaching top speeds, managed to lift all four feet off the ground simultaneously up to 15% of the time. This unexpected finding places hippos between elephants and rhinos in terms of their athletic abilities. Unlike elephants, which never leave the ground, and rhinos, which can gallop, hippos typically trot, moving diagonally opposite legs together.

Hutchinson’s work sheds light on the biomechanics of large land animals and their evolutionary locomotion. While the study involved tedious frame-by-frame video analysis, it opened new questions about hippo behavior. Notably, there’s curiosity about whether pygmy hippos or baby hippos might exhibit different locomotive abilities, potentially leading to future research.

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