Indeed, researchers at the Royal Veterinary College in North Mymms, Hertfordshire, have discovered that hippos can lift all four feet off the ground up to 15% of the time when sprinting at full speed, particularly to chase off rivals.
John Hutchinson, a professor of evolutionary biomechanics who led the study, noted the difficulty of studying hippos due to their dangerous nature, nocturnal habits, and tendency to stay in water.
In search of answers, he sent student Emily Pringle to Flamingo Land resort in North Yorkshire, where the resident hippos had space to run. She filmed their movements as they traveled between their stable and watering hole, providing valuable footage for analysis.
Researchers meticulously examined this video, including additional clips from YouTube, frame by frame, to determine if hippos ever achieved this airborne feat. Their findings, published in PeerJ, revealed that, unlike other large mammals, hippos predominantly maintain a trotting gait regardless of speed but can become airborne in a sprint.
While elephants never fully leave the ground and maintain a standard walking gait even at high speeds, rhinos can walk, trot, and gallop. The footage of hippos, which can weigh over 2,000 kg, showed them mostly trotting, with diagonally opposite legs moving in synchrony.
Hutchinson emphasized the importance of this research for understanding the movement of large land animals and the evolution of locomotion, tracing back to the giant dinosaurs. Although analyzing video frame by frame proved tedious—something Hutchinson described as “mind-numbing”—the study opened up new avenues for research.
Promise for further exploration emerged when Hutchinson learned that pygmy hippos, a different species, might be capable of galloping. This raises the intriguing possibility that baby hippos may also possess abilities that adult hippos lack, prompting Hutchinson to consider a return trip to Flamingo Land. “That would be pretty neat,” he remarked, excited about the potential discoveries on the horizon.
Content for this question contributed by Marylee Bunch, resident of Olmsted Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA
