ANIMALS IN/NEAR THE WATERRiga ostvalda secondary school

Arthur Snitko 6.d

ANIMALS IN/NEAR THE WATER

Hippopotamus• European otter

Eurasian beaver Northern fur seal Elephant seal

HIPPOPOTAMUS

The hippopotamus or hippo, , is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan 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 third-largest 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.

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

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.

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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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.

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