What makes hippos able to run faster than humans?
In: 9
Weight moves weight. The same reason why a weightlifter or a boxer or whatever sport usually has the strongest individuals being the largest. If you’re very very big, your muscles will likely be very very big as well. And like I said, weight moves weight — being small and nimble is great but having big, powerful leg muscles does, in some instances, make for a better overall runner at the end of the day.
You can see it in humans too. Usain Bolt is actually an anomaly when it comes to sprinters, but if you look at the builds of the typical sprinter, they’re usually [pretty fricken huge but mostly on the shorter side](https://www.google.com/search?q=american+sprinters&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS590US590&hl=en-GB&prmd=inv&sxsrf=ALiCzsaAX9CQyPu8cREuG278wD099-3_0Q:1653330357713&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFvavFn_b3AhVfkYkEHQd7CLwQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=414&bih=720&dpr=2#imgrc=wVOXC2-HJyAf_M). You’d think that being a sprinter, they should be small, and usually they are, in height. But in weight, they are usually very dense and powerful people to compensate.
Weight, moves weight. And hippos are enormous.
Being huge helps a lot. Running on all fours does too. I assume you’re not surprised that horses can run faster than people, right? Same rules apply.
Being full of opinions, when you haven’t seen a human in such a long time, sometimes your excitement gets the best of you and you sprint toward a willing ear
They are able to jettison stored water reserves in their tummies out of their butt. This causes a secondary propulsion force that pushes them forward.
Well, generally speaking, humans are fat, lazy creatures, whereas Hippos are . . .
what I mean to say is . . . okay, I got nothing.
Four legs good. Two legs bad.
People are mentioning all sorts of things except the obvious. Hippo’s have four legs and four legs lets you run far faster than 2 legs.
Because Hippos aren’t fat, [Hippos are a truckload of muscle](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/8f534129-a682-401e-a2a1-bf266333c666/d7lt3y7-1bf51396-9311-48cc-b76a-37fcab1d6040.jpg/v1/fill/w_900,h_1769,q_75,strp/hippo_drawing_by_yishanjiang_d7lt3y7-fullview.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTc2OSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzhmNTM0MTI5LWE2ODItNDAxZS1hMmExLWJmMjY2MzMzYzY2NlwvZDdsdDN5Ny0xYmY1MTM5Ni05MzExLTQ4Y2MtYjc2YS0zN2ZjYWIxZDYwNDAuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTkwMCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.DNdfE65tRI9a2W_x6GwhimP7qu1a9GCAJy73pES237w). They are 1,5 ton tanks that consisting of mainly muscle, sure, means their muscle will have to work more too, but still, means they got a lot of force they can put into running.
I’m not sure I understand the question. Just about everything can outrun a human – rats, dogs, bears, gorillas. Why would a hippo be any different? More muscle, that’s about it.
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