African Ebony vs Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo

Diospyros kamerunensis compared with Hippopotamus amphibius

Key Differences

African Ebony is Least Concern while Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	African Ebony	Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Ericales (Ericales)	Artiodactyla (Even-toed Ungulates)
Family	Ebenaceae	Hippopotamidae (Hippos)
Genus	Diospyros	Hippopotamus (Hippos)
Species	Diospyros kamerunensis	Hippopotamus amphibius

Conservation Status

African Ebony

LC — Least Concern

Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~130.0K

Trend: Decreasing ↓

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	African Ebony	Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo
Diet	—	Herbivore
Average Lifespan	—	40 years
Average Length	—	3.5 m
Average Weight	—	1.5 t

Habitat & Geographic Range

African Ebony

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical grasslands and savannas, and flooded grasslands and savannas, among 5 distinct biome types within the Afrotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Distributed across Colombia and Kenya. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

African Ebony

The African Ebony (Diospyros kamerunensis) is a species in the genus Diospyros. It is currently classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Common Hippopotamus, Hippopotamus, Large Hippo

Africa's most dangerous large mammal, common hippos can reach 3,200 kg and inhabit rivers, lakes, and wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa. Semi-aquatic, spending up to 16 hours daily submerged to keep cool, they graze on land at night. Despite appearing docile, hippos are extremely aggressive and territorial, responsible for hundreds of human fatalities annually. Vulnerable, with populations threatened by habitat loss and illegal hunting for ivory tusks.