A LITTLE WILDLIFE PERSPECTIVE
How tall is a hippopotamus?
Compare your height to a hippopotamus.
A common hippopotamus stands about 1.5–1.65 m (4 ft 11 in–5 ft 5 in) tall. Its low body is much longer than it is high.
A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE
Hippopotamus
next to the average.
Average U.S. adults, side by side.
- Average man (U.S.)5 ft 8.9 in
- Hippopotamus4 ft 11.1 in
- Average woman (U.S.)5 ft 3.5 in
How do you measure up?
Enter your height to stand beside a hippopotamus.
Side by side
- Hippopotamus4 ft 11.1 in
- Your placeAdd your height
The animal is an example adult in the pose shown. Its full outline is scaled to 150 cm. Shoulder height and body length are explained below.
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GET TO KNOW THE ANIMAL
Small facts. Big discoveries.
Common hippopotamus · Hippopotamus amphibius
A hippo can keep most of its body underwater while its eyes, ears, and nostrils stay near the surface. That arrangement suits a life spent moving between water and land.
Hippos usually leave the water at dusk and follow familiar routes to grassy feeding areas, returning before dawn. Their broad, muscular lips gather vegetation, so much of the daily work of feeding that enormous body happens on land rather than beneath the water.
- Hippos have short legs under a very heavy body.
- Their eyes and ears sit high on the head, rather than low on the sides.
How big do adults get?
- Male
- Can reach about 5.05 m in length
- Female
- Can reach about 3.45 m in length
These are body-length figures from the cited species account, not standing heights. Males generally grow larger and heavier.
Height, length, or weight?
Standing height runs from the ground to the top of the animal. Shoulder height stops at the top of the shoulders. Length runs along the body; it is not how tall an animal stands. Weight tells us how heavy it is.
Explore the science: Animal Diversity Web · University of Michigan ↗