hippopotamus
1. a very large massive gregarious artiodactyl mammal, Hippopotamus amphibius, living in or around the rivers of tropical Africa: family Hippopotamidae. It has short legs and a thick skin sparsely covered with hair
2. pigmy hippopotamus a related but smaller animal, Choeropsis liberiensis
Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
hippopotamus
[‚hip·ə′päd·ə·məs] (vertebrate zoology)
The common name for two species of artiodactyl ungulates composing the family Hippopotamidae.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.