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AnAge entry for Hippopotamus amphibius

Classification (HAGRID: 02398)
TaxonomyKingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Artiodactyla
                Family: Hippopotamidae
                    Genus: Hippopotamus
SpeciesHippopotamus amphibius
Common nameHippopotamus

Lifespan, ageing, and relevant traits

IMR0.01/year
MRDT7 years
Maximum longevity61.2 years (captivity)
Sourceref. 671
Sample sizelarge
Data qualityacceptable
Observations

Tooth erosion is a common age-related change in these animals. In captivity sexual maturity is attained at 3-4 years but in the wild mating does not occur until males are 6-13 years and females are 7-15 years [0434].

Life history traits (averages)

Female sexual maturity1,279 days
Male sexual maturity1,279 days
Gestation234 days
Weaning341 days
Litter size1 (viviparous)
Litters per year0.6
Inter-litter interval563 days
Weight at birth40,000 g
Weight at weaning237,500 g
Adult weight3,750,000 g
Postnatal growth rate
Maximum longevity residual123 %

Metabolism

No information on metabolism available.

References
[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0676] Purvis and Harvey (1995), Mammal life-history evolution: a comparative test of Charnov’s model
[0677] Saether and Gordon (1994), The adaptive significance of reproductive strategies in ungulates, PubMed
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0002] Caleb Finch (1990), Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome
[0081] Miller (1988), A set of test life tables for theoretical gerontology, PubMed
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction

External resources

Integrated Taxonomic Information SystemITIS 625024
Animal Diversity WebADW account
Encyclopedia of LifeSearch EOL
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