Class: MAMMALIA

Order: ARTIODACTYLA

Family: HIPPOPOTAMIDAE

Genus: CHOEROPSIS

Species: LIBERIENISIS

The Pygmy Hippopotamus is smaller and more timid than its Savannah relative. It is however, still quite dangerous to animals that may come too close.

The smaller of the two living hippopotanoids, both of which are commonly referred to simply as 'hippos'. This one has a smaller and more specialised range than its larger counterpart, in small areas of Central Africa. Pygmy Hippos are rare to observe in the wild, where their preferred habitat is forest.

Hippo fossils are relatively rare, so the evolution of the hippopotamus is still not largely understood. However, the hippopotamus shares a common ancestor with whales, which are thought to have evolved from small, four-legged land-living animals. However, it is thought that hippos and whales evolved aquatic lifestyle separately. Perhaps by taking to the water, the hippo could avoid predators by taking an unused niche. The ancestral hippo lived about 15 million years ago, and would spread around Europe and Africa. The hippos with more resources would grow larger in size, especially in Europe. However, those with less resources would shrink in size. Before the last Ice Age, only the African Hippos remained, and today, only two hippopotanoids live today - the Hippopotamus, and the Pygmy Hippopotamus, the smaller of the two. The Pygmy Hippopotamus belongs to the same family, but to a different genus.