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LornAltElthMer t1_ja95mt6 wrote

Reply to comment by dasus in A cougar was observed swimming 1.1 km (0.68 miles) to an uninhabited island in Pugent Sound. Researchers find other records implying mountain lions can swim even farther to hop between islands, likely >2 km. “We are redefining the mountain lion in our minds as an animal that can swim.” by TR_54

Hippos can't swim which is kind of odd given they're the most closely related land mammals to whales.

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dasus t1_ja97hen wrote

Oh damn, true, I forgot that, as they're pretty aquatic, but yeah, you are right, they just run underwater, haha.

Eh, they're just the part of the branch that stayed in the shallows. (Whale evolution docs are cool)

Seems like going back from land to water has happened quite a few times. Taxonomy is interesting and your comment made me look a bit, and to my surprise, hippos are more closely related to cetaceans than they are to manatees. I mean, I had never given it any thought before, but I didn't realise how different manatees and dugongs are from cetaceans.

Also, seals and walruses. Weird that a hippo can't swim, but walruses can. They both look heavy enough, but guess hippos do be a bit denser.

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HippoBot9000 t1_ja97ii1 wrote

HIPPOBOT 9000 v 3.1 FOUND A HIPPO. 47,149,294 COMMENTS SEARCHED. 1,025 HIPPOS FOUND. YOUR COMMENT CONTAINS THE WORD HIPPO.

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LornAltElthMer t1_ja97xsl wrote

I'm guessing with the walruses it's the flippers that make the difference.

Just going by appearance I'd have guessed a hippo and a manatee would be more closely related, but here we are ;-)

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Ppleater t1_ja9a1k3 wrote

It's not so much that they can't swim, but rather that they can't float, so they have to move along the bottom by running along or leaping off the ground. But if they were made more buoyant I bet they'd be powerful swimmers.

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