Hippopotamus vs Rhinoceros

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The hippopotamus and rhinoceros are large, grayish wild herbivorous mammals known for their immense size. The rhino can be distinguished from the hippo by the prominent horn on its snout.

Comparison chart

Hippopotamus versus Rhinoceros comparison chart
	Hippopotamus	Rhinoceros

Kingdom	Animalia	Animalia
Order	Artiodactyla	Perissodactyla
Weight	1,600–3,200kg	Average weight of a white rhino is 5,100 lbs for males and 3,700 lbs for females. Black rhinos are smaller at 1,800 to 3,100 lbs.
Color	Grayish body	White rhino: Ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. Indian Rhinoceros: Silver-brown.. Javan rhino: Hazy grey skin. Black rhino: Similar in color to the white rhino. Sumatran rhino: Reddish brown.
Speed	19 mph	35 mph
Life span	40-50 years	35-50 years (black rhino); 40-50 years (white rhino)
Diet	Herbivore.	Herbivore.
Skin and Hair	Very thick, but virtually hairless skin. The hippo has neither sweat nor sebaceous glands as it relies on water or mud to keep cool. It secretes a viscous red fluid which protects the animal’s skin against the sun and is possibly a healing agent.	The white rhino's has hair on the ear fringes & tail bristles, & sparse over the body. Javan & Indian rhinos are hairless; latter has a thick, silver-brown skin with huge folds & bumps on legs & shoulders. Sumatran rhino has dense hair in calves.
Habitat	Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals. Rivers and lakes, not necessarily very deep, with pools of slow moving water and banks with good quality grazing is an ideal habitat.	The white rhino needs open undulating woodland with plenty of grass and permanent water.
Mouth	Hippos have an enormous mouth and teeth.	White Rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth which is used for grazing in contrast to the Black rhino's pointed lip which they use to grasp leaves and twigs.
Horns and humps	Hippos have no horns or humps.	The white, black and Sumatran rhinos have two horns on snout. The Indian and Javan rhinos have only one horn. The White Rhinoceros also has a prominent muscular hump that supports its relatively large head.
Reproduction	A single calf is born after a gestation period of about 8 months.	Sexual maturity is reached at about 6 years of age, and one calf is born once every three years, after a gestation period of about 16 months. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth.
Behavior	One of the most aggressive in the world and often the most ferocious in Africa. Hippos are gregarious, associating in herds of up to 40 with one adult bull, many cows & their young. Young bulls are evicted from the herd on reaching sexual maturity.	White rhinos: less aggressive, more sociable, in groups of 15. Black rhinos travel alone. Indian Rhino: Adult males are solitary, except for mating/fighting. Adult females are solitary when without calves.
Species	H. amphibius	Five species
Population	There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) possess the largest populations.	There are 17,500 white and 4240 black rhinos in the wild. In 2007 there were only 50 Javan rhinos in the wild, 200 Sumatran rhinos and 2620 one-horned Indian rhinos in the world.
Conservation	They are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth.	Humans kill the rhino for its keratin horn. The Indian Rhino was brought back from the brink of extinction in 1908. Now there are over 400 Indian rhinos in the wild near Nepal.
Zoological classification	Hippopotamus amphibious; one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae.	A group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family rhinocerotiae.
Types	Nile hippopotamus (H. a. amphibius), East African hippopotamus (H. a. kiboko), South African hippopotamus (H. a. capensis), Tchad hippopotamus (H. a. tschadensis), Angola hippopotamus (H. a. constrictus)	Javan, Sumatran, Black rhinos (critically endangered); the Indian one-horned rhinoceros (endangered); and the white rhinoceros (vulnerable, and lives in Africa).
Body shape	Stocky, barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size.	The White Rhino has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest.
Size	The hippopotamus is the third largest land animal. The average adult male weight ranges from 1500–1800 kg (3300-4000 lbs). Females are smaller and weigh 200-300 kgs less (around 2900-3300 lbs).	The rhino is one of the largest remaining megafauna alive today, with all species one ton or more in weight. The white rhino can exceed 4000 kg, have a head-and-body length of 3.5–4.6 m. The fully grown Indian rhino males weigh from 2500–3200 kg

Hippopotamus

The White Rhinoceros

Types

There are five extant (existing biological) species of odd-toed ungulates (3 toes on each foot) in the family rhinocerotiae. The Javan, Sumatran and Black rhinoceros are critically endangered; the Indian one-horned rhinoceros is endangered; the white rhinoceros is vulnerable and lives in Africa.

It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus

There is only one species of Hippopotamus in existence: the Hippopotamus amphibius in the family Hippopotamidae. A related species in the family Hippopotamidae is the Pygmy Hippopotamus which is seen only in certain reserves in West Africa.

The Indian Rhinoceros

Size

The rhinoceros family is characterized by its large size. It is one of the largest remaining megafauna alive today, with all of the species able to reach one ton or more in weight. The white rhino can exceed 3,500 kg, have a head-and-body length of 3.5–4.6 m. The fully grown Indian rhino males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2,500–3,200 kg. The Hippopotamus is the third largest land animal, after the elephant and white rhino.

The average weight for adult males hippos ranges from 1,500–1,800 kg with the females smaller at an average weight between 1,300–1,500 kg. Older males can get much larger, reaching at least 3,200 kg and occasionally weighing 4,500 kg. Male hippos appear to continue growing throughout their lives; females reach a maximum weight at around age 25.

Body

The rhino is characterized by its keratin horn. It has an immense body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. The white rhino has a long face and a pronounced hump on its neck.

The hippopotamus has a stocky, barrel-shaped torso, enormous mouth and teeth, nearly hairless body, stubby legs and tremendous size. The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of the skull. This allows them to be in the water with most of their body submerged in the waters and mud of tropical rivers to stay cool and prevent sunburn.

Color

The color of white rhino can range from yellowish brown to slate gray. It is not white, it is named after the Dutch word for wide for its wide lip. The Indian Rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin which creates huge folds all over its body. The Javan rhino has hazy gray skin. The Black rhino is not black and is similar in color to the white rhino. Sumatran rhino's are reddish brown in color.

The hippopotamus has a grayish colored body.

Skin and Hair

Most of the white rhino's body hair is found on the ear fringes and tail bristles with the rest distributed rather sparsely over the rest of the body. The Javan rhino is hairless like the Indian rhino. The Indian Rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin which creates huge folds all over its body and is a pinkish color near the folds. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. The Sumatran rhino's hair can range from dense, in calves to sparse.

The hippo's grayish body has very thick skin which is virtually hairless. The hippo has neither sweat nor sebaceous glands, relying on water or mud to keep cool. It does, however, secrete a viscous red fluid which protects the animal’s skin against the sun and is possibly a healing agent.

Mouth

White Rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth which is used for grazing in contrast to the Black rhino's pointed lip which they use to grasp leaves and twigs. Rhino's have 24 to 34 teeth mostly premolars and molars used for grinding.

The hippo has sharp canines that are used as defence and also to attack mating rivals. It can open its mouth to an angle of 150 degrees, compared to 45 degrees in humans.

Horns

The most obvious distinguishing characteristic of the rhinos is a large horn above the nose. Rhinoceros horns, unlike those of other horned mammals – especially bovines - lack a bony core. The horn of a rhinoceros consists only of keratin, the same type of fibrous structural protein that makes up hair and fingernails.

All rhino's except the Indian rhino have two horns for which they are usually poached. The horn is used to make daggers or crushed and used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine. The two horns on the skull are made of keratin with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long, exceptionally up to 140 cm. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The black rhino’s horn is much smaller than that of the white rhino

The white rhino's front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 90cm in length and can reach 150cm. The greek word 'ceros' means horn. Both male and female Indian rhinos have only one horn. The horn which is made of keratin, the same substance of human fingernails, starts to grow after 6 years of age. In most adults the horn reaches about 25 centimeters, but has been recorded up to 57.2 centimeters in length. The nasal horn curves backwards from the nose. Its horn is naturally black. In captive animals, the horn is frequently worn down to a thick knob. The rhino's in Africa (white and black) use their horns for attacking while the Indian rhino uses its incisors.

The hippopotamus has no horn.

Habitat

The white rhino needs open undulating woodland with plenty of grass and permanent water. Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals so rivers and lakes, not necessarily very deep, with pools of slow moving water and banks with good quality grazing is an ideal habitat. Both hippos and rhinos are herbivores. Almost 98% of the black rhino population is found in just four countries: South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Kenya when at one stage they were found all over the African continent. The white rhino is found in African countries including South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The black rhino is found in South Africa, Rwanda and Zimbabwe. The Sumatran and Javan rhinos are found in Sumatra and Java respectively. The Indian one-horned rhino is found in the Assam region of India and in Nepal. Hippos are found all over Sub-Saharan Africa.

Behavior

Both rhinos and hippos in the wild can be very aggressive to humans.

White rhinos are less aggressive and more sociable than black rhinos and can be seen in groups of ten or 15 and live according to a strict social structure. Black rhinos travel alone. The Indian Rhinoceros forms a variety of social groupings. Adult males are generally solitary, except for mating and fighting. Adult females are largely solitary when they are without calves. Mothers will stay close to their calves for up to four years after their birth. Male rhinos can greet each other in a very friendly manner and play with stick and twigs together.

Hippos spend most day soaking in water. They cannot swim but often submerge and resurface every 3 to 5 minutes to breathe. They can also sleep underwater and automatically resurface without waking.

Population

There are estimated 17,500 white rhinoceros remaining in the wild and about 4240 black rhinos. In 2007 there were only 50 Javan rhinos in the wild, 200 Sumatran rhinos and 2620 one-horned Indian rhinos in the world. There are an estimated 125,000 to 150,000 hippos throughout Sub-Saharan Africa; Zambia (40,000) and Tanzania (20,000–30,000) possess the largest populations.

Conservation

Since 1970 the world rhino population has declined by 90 percent, with five species remaining in the world today, all of which are endangered. The Javan and Sumatran rhinos are critically endangered. Hippos are not endangered although their population dramatically declined in Congo where their meat is sold illegal. Hippo populations are threatened due to loss of fresh water sources.