Pygmy+Hippo

__ The 4 Charesteristics!!

One Or More Cell __ Skin cells, Toe cells, Fat cells, Nose cells, Tounge cells, Nail cells, Eye cells, Ear cells, Heart cells, Hair cells, Blood cells, Liver cells, Bone cells, Brain cells, Nerve cells.

__ Reproduction __
**Step 1 - The baby** The baby Pygmy Hippo is born in either shallow water or, in land. They will nurse 2-3 times in a 24 hour period.

**Step 2 - Growing up!** In the wild, the average female Pygmy Hippo will breed only once every two years. Only one Pygmy Hippo is born, after a gestation period of about 6 months. The baby Pygmy Hippo will weigh about 14 ponds. The baby Pygmy Hippo cant walk too far at first, so the mother will help it out. After about 3 months, the baby Pygmy Hippo can now feed on vegetation! yay! :) At the age of two, the mother will get the baby hippo to move on its own. After the hippo goes the mother will produce another calf.

**Step 3 - Reproduction** If two Pygmy Hippos meet, they can mate in water or, on land. Once a Pygmy Hippo is three years old, it can now reproduce. gestation will take 6 to 7 months, and then a calf is born.

**__ Growth And Develop __**
The Pygmy Hippo starts off as a baby once the mother gives birth, --> then will slowly turn into a full-grown hippo. -->

__** Respond **__
The Pygmy Hippo responds to a lot of things. One of the things is that if two Pygmy Hippos of the same gender cross their paths, they will fight until one hippo is killed. Another thing is that the male hippos will usually kill baby calfs (even their own!) to put the female back into heat.

__ Meeting Their Needs __
__** Air: **__ A Pygmy Hippo will meet its need for air by breathing in through their nose, and out of their mouths. __** Food: **__ A Pygmy Hippo will meet its need for food by spending about six hours looking for its food. The Pygmy Hippo will come out of the water at dusk to find food. They will travel through the forest to look for vegetation. Yes, belive it or not, the Pygmy Hippo is a herbivor. Some of what they eat are ferns, broad-leafed plants, aquatic plants, shoots, leaves, roots, grass, and fallen fruit.
 * __ Water: __** A Pygmy Hippo will simply meet its need for water by drinking water from a lake, pond, ect. They will usually stay close to water because they will spend some of the day in the water.
 * __ Shelter: __** The Pygmy Hippo's shelter is deep water, or on grassy land. they would be found in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast.

__** The Kindoms!! **__
__ Kindom: Animalia __ Animals are a big gruop that is mostly multicellular. Most animals can move independently and automaticly. All animals must ingest other organizams for sustenance. The Pygmy Hippo is a member of this group because it is multicellular and it can not make its own food.

__**Phylum: Chordata**__ Chordata is a group of animals witch have eitheir vertabretes or invertibres. All animals in this group will have a notochord, a hollow dorsal nerve chord, pharyngeal slits, an endostyle, and a post anal tail. So basicaly the Pygmy Hippo is a member of this group because it has a vertibre!!

__** Class: Mammalia **__ The gruop "mammalia" are a class of animals with a vertebrate. The animals also have to be air-breathing animals. The females in this group will have mammary glands and both females and males have sweat glands, hair or fur, three middle ear bones used for hearing, and a neocortex region in the brain.

__** Order: Artiodactyla **__ The animals in the group artiodactyla will have a sertian shape in their astragalus (a bone in the ankle joint) witch will give the animal more flexabilaty.

__**Family: Hippopotamidae**__ The Pygmy Hippo is a member of this group because it is a large mammal, with short legs, and barrel shaped bodies. They will also have big heads, with long mouths, and nostrils placed on the top of the snout. They are also smoothed skined. You would need to have all of theese things to be a member of the "hippopotamidae".

__**Genus: Choeropsis**__ Is a large mammal that live in swamps and forests.

__ Special Features __
1) Some of the special features are that the Pygmy Hippos skin will ooze out a pinkish, oily liquid when it comes out of the water. A lot of people thought they were bleeding until scientists found out why. Turns out that the Pygmy Hippos produce that liquid to keep there skin from drying out. It will also act as a sunscreen to protect the Pygmy Hippos from the sun. 2) Another special feature are that Pygmy Hippos have a thick layer of ** fat ** under their skin. This ** fat ** helps keep them warm when they are swimming in the deep water. 3)The last special feature about the Pygmy Hippo is that their eyes, ears, and nostrils are located on the top of their head. They are located on the top of the head so that the Pygmy Hippo can float on the water and they can breath, see, and hear easily.

__ Facts About Pygmy Hippos __
-Pygmy Hippos are very good swimmers. -New born Pygmy Hippos wheigh from 10 to 14 punds. -A Pygmy Hippos life span is between 30 to 50 years. -The Pygmy Hippos are becoming extinct because of their forest due to the timber industry. Also people are killing them for food and for their teeth. - In captivity, a Pygmy Hippos life span is about 30 years.