Scientists at the Royal Veterinary College in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, have made a discovery: hippos, despite their hefty size, can briefly become airborne.<\/p>\n
This revelation came after extensive video analysis of hippos in motion, conducted by evolutionary biomechanics professor John Hutchinson and his team.<\/p>\n
The research team closely examined footage of hippos running, including videos shot by student Emily Pringle at Flamingo Land resort in North Yorkshire.<\/p>\n
They found that hippos, when reaching top speeds, managed to lift all four feet off the ground simultaneously up to 15% of the time.<\/p>\n
This unexpected finding places hippos between elephants and rhinos in terms of their athletic abilities.<\/p>\n
Unlike elephants, which never leave the ground, and rhinos, which can gallop, hippos typically trot, moving diagonally opposite legs together.<\/p>\n
Hutchinson\u2019s work sheds light on the biomechanics of large land animals and their evolutionary locomotion.<\/p>\n
While the study involved tedious frame-by-frame video analysis, it opened new questions about hippo behavior.<\/p>\n
Notably, there\u2019s curiosity about whether pygmy hippos or baby hippos might exhibit different locomotive abilities, potentially leading to future research.<\/p>\n