2. ANIMALS IN/NEAR THE WATER
Hippopotamus
• European otter
Eurasian beaver
Northern fur seal
Elephant seal
3. HIPPOPOTAMUS
The hippopotamus or hippo, , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in subSaharan Africa and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae .
After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third-largest type of
land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl. Despite their physical
resemblance to pigs and other terrestrial even-toed ungulates, their closest living
relatives are cetaceans (whales, porpoises, etc.) from which they diverged about
55 million years ago. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other
even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago. The earliest known
hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to
around 16 million years ago.
Hippos are recognizable by their barrel-shaped torsos, enormous mouths and
teeth, nearly hairless bodies, stubby legs and tremendous size. They are the thirdlargest type of land mammal by weight (between 1½ and 3 tonnes): the only
heavier species on average are the white and Indian rhinoceroses, typically 1½ to
3½ tonnes, and the elephants, typically weighing 3 to 9 tonnes. The hippopotamus
is one of the largest quadrupeds and, despite its stocky shape and short legs, it
can easily outrun a human. Hippos have been clocked at 30 km/h (19 mph) over
short distances. The hippopotamus is one of the most aggressive creatures in the
world and, as such, ranks among the most dangerous animals in Africa.
Nevertheless, they are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat
and ivory canine teeth.
4. EUROPEAN OTTER
The European otter ( also known as the Eurasian otter, Eurasian river
otter, common otter and Old World otter, is a European and Asian
member of the Lutrinae or otter subfamily, and is typical of freshwater otters
5. EURASIAN BEAVER
The Eurasian beaver or European beaver is a
species of beaver which was once widespread in
Eurasia. It was hunted to near-extinction for both its
fur and castoreum, and by 1900 only 1,200 beavers
survived in eight relict populations in Europe and
Asia. Re-introduced through much of its former
range, it now occurs from Great Britain to China
and Mongolia, although it is absent from Italy,
Portugal and the southern Balkans.
6. NORTHERN FUR SEAL
The northern fur seal is an eared seal found along the
north Pacific Ocean, the Bering Sea and the Sea of
Okhotsk. It is the largest member of the fur seal
subfamily and the only living species in the genus
Callorhinus. A single fossil species , is known from the
Pliocene of Japan and western North America.
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7. ELEPHANT SEAL
Elephant seals (also sea elephants) are large, oceangoing seals in
the genus Mirounga. The two species, the northern elephant seal
and the southern elephant seal , both were hunted to the brink of
extinction by the end of the 19th century, but numbers have since
recovered.
The northern elephant seal, somewhat smaller than its southern
relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and
Mexico . The most northerly breeding location on the Pacific Coast is
at Race Rocks at the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of
Juan de Fuca. The southern elephant seal is found in the Southern
Hemisphere on islands such as South Georgia and Macquarie
Island, and on the coasts of New Zealand, South Africa, and
Argentina in the Peninsula Valdés which is the fourth-largest
elephant seal colony in the world. Fossils of an as yet unnamed
species of Mirounga have been found in South Africa, and dated to
the Miocene epoch.