Read below for information on animals that start with H. Alongside some cool and interesting photos and videos of the animals. I hope you will find the exploration worthwhile and interesting.
Table of Contents
Animals that Start with H
Here are some animals that begin with H
- Honey Badger
- Harbour Seal
- Hamster
- Hedgehog
- Hyena
- Hare
- Horse
- Hartebeest
- Hammered shark
- Hippopotamus
1. Honey Badger
Cool and interesting facts about Honey Badge
- Honey badgers live up to 7 years in the wild.
- It is one of the earth’s bravest creatures!
- Their thick, loose skin can easily withstand shots from bows, arrows, and even machetes! The most effective way to kill honey badgers is a gunshot or skull-breaking blow to the back of the head.
- Honey badgers are one of the few animals naturally immune to venomous snake bites. It’s believed they developed this over time by eating slightly venomous creatures first and working their way up.
- Honey badgers are the only species in the Mellivora genus and are often locally known as ‘ratels.’
- Using their sharp claws, ratels can dig a nearly 10-foot-long tunnel into hard earth within 10 minutes.
The honey badger (Mellivora capensis), also known as the ratel, is a mammal related to skunks, otters, ferrets, and other badgers.
These voracious omnivores get their name from their fondness for feeding on honey and honeybee larvae. They also eat insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, as well as roots, bulbs, berries, and fruits.
Though they hunt for their own food most of the time, they’ll happily steal from other carnivores or scavenge the kills of bigger animals when the opportunity arises.
Their prominent, sharp teeth, long fore-claws, and stocky build allow them to easily rip meat from the bone.
In size, ratels are the largest land mustelids in Africa. They measure between 9.1 and 11 inches tall and 22-30 inches long from the shoulder. Honey badgers are animals that are also known for having steel-like skin. It is thick and loose and can withstand arrow piercings and machete attacks. Plus, bee stings and porcupine pricks don’t affect them in the slightest.
Depending on the subspecies, honey badgers have all-black fur or black fur with a white streak that runs along their spine. In the winter, they carry long, dense fur coats, which are shed in the summer.
Behavior
The honey badger is primarily solitary but has also been sighted in Africa hunting in pairs during the breeding season in May. It also uses old burrows of aardvarks, warthogs, and termite mounds. It is a skilled digger, able to dig tunnels into the hard ground in 10 minutes.
It is primarily a carnivorous species and has few natural predators because of its thick skin, strength, and ferocious defensive abilities.
The honey badger is notorious for its strength, aggressiveness, ferocity, and toughness. It is known to savagely and fearlessly attack almost any other species when escape is impossible, reportedly even repelling much larger predators such as lions, hyenas, and even humans.
For the most part, honey badgers stick to themselves, but mating pairs occasionally hang out together in the spring.
Distribution
Honey badgers can be found throughout most of sub-Saharan Africa, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and western Asia.
They can adapt to a variety of conditions, from warm rainforests to cool mountains. Their home ranges can be as vast as about 193 square miles (500 square kilometers).
Conservation
Though honey badgers are widespread and considered abundant, they are hunted or persecuted in certain regions, especially when they come into conflict with farmers and beekeepers.
They’re also eaten as bush meat and harvested for the traditional medicine trade; a reputation for bravery and tenacity makes honey badgers popular for traditional medicine.
Preventing the loss of honey badgers from those areas requires vigilance from local populations.
Honey badgers are the least threatened species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and are not in imminent danger of extinction. But that doesn’t mean honey badgers are without threats.
Domestication
Honey badgers are dangerous! They never back down, have lethal teeth, and attack any moving thing if they feel threatened. Honey badgers are one of the most aggressive species on Earth, they do not make good pets.
2. Harbor Seal
Cool and interesting facts about Harbor Seal
- Harbor seals in the wild can live between 25 and 30 years and for more than 30 years in human care.
- Before a deep dive, harbor seals slow their heart rates from upwards of 80 (averaging between 80 and 120) beats per minute to as few as three or four. After surfacing, the seal’s heartbeat accelerates rapidly for a short time.
- Harbor seals can dive to depths of 500 feet (152.4 meters) but depths of up to 1,460 feet (446 meters) have been recorded. They can remain submerged for up to 30 minutes at a time.
- Harbor seal coloration can vary greatly from white or light gray with dark spots to dark brownish black with light spots, depending on where in their range they are found.
The harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), is also known as the common seal. They are brown, silvery white, tan, or gray, with distinctive V-shaped nostrils. An adult can attain a length of 1.85 m (6.1 ft) and a mass of up to 168 kg (370 lb).
Harbor seals prefer to frequent familiar resting sites. They may spend several days at sea and travel up to 50 km in search of feeding grounds, and will also swim more than a hundred miles upstream into fresh water in large rivers in search of migratory fish like shad and likely salmon.
Like other pinnipeds, harbor seals are adapted to dive and conserve oxygen underwater. They can generally dive to depths of about 500 feet (152 meters), but dives up to 1,460 feet (446 meters) have been recorded.
They can remain submerged for up to 30 minutes at a time, but the average dive lasts less than three minutes given that most of their prey lives in shallower depths.
Behavior
Harbor seals are solitary, but are gregarious when hauled out (especially on land) and during the breeding season, though they do not form groups as large as some other seals.
They haul to rest when not actively feeding. The mating system is not known but is thought to be polygamous. Due to their naturally solitary lifestyle, they can become very antagonistic toward each other when groups of several hundred congregate together on the shore during the breeding season.
Harbor seals spend half their time on land, resting, breeding, and raising their young on both rocky and sandy beaches. They do not migrate and will remain in the same general area unless the search for food requires that they move
Distribution
Harbor seals are the most widely distributed seals, living in both the Atlantic and the Baltic. North Atlantic and Northern Pacific oceans.
On the West coast of North America, their distribution spans from the Southern Arctic (Yukon to northern Alaska) down the California coastline and on the East coast from South Greenland, the Hudson Bay, and down the coastline to the Carolinas.
They can be found anywhere from cool, temperate waters to cold, arctic, and subarctic coasts.
Conservation
Harbor seal numbers were severely reduced in Puget Sound during the first half of the twentieth century by a state-financed population control program. This animal is not currently on exhibit.
Domestication
Seals can be domesticated as long as you provide all the necessary things for their thriving and survival. However, in some countries, it is illegal to keep seals as pets.
3. Hamster
Cool and interesting facts about Hamsters
- Hamsters have a lifespan of 2-3 years
- Hamsters are small-sized rodents. They are very commonly kept as house pets. However, unlike other rodents, they have short tails.
- Hamsters bite when they are scared or disturbed during their sleep time.
- Their teeth keep growing all the time and are short only because they keep chewing on things.
Hamsters are tiny rodents with stubby bodies, widely spaced feet, and small ears. Hamsters are found in a variety of colors, including grey, yellow, black, white, brown, golden, and red. They exist in a mixture of several colors.
They are usually 2 to 6 inches long and weigh about 6.2 ounces on average. They belong to the order Rodentia, which belongs to the subfamily Cricetinae. There are 19 species classified into seven genera, and 5 of them are commonly kept as house pets.
There are several types of hamsters, including dwarf hamsters, Syrian hamsters, teddy bear hamsters, and golden hamsters. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), which is the type most commonly kept as a pet.
Hamsters have very poor eyesight, and their feet are wide apart. Hamsters are more crepuscular than nocturnal and, in the wild, remain underground during the day to avoid being caught by predators.
They feed primarily on seeds, fruits, and vegetation, and will occasionally eat burrowing insects. Physically, they are stout-bodied with distinguishing features that include elongated cheek pouches extending to their shoulders, which they use to carry food back to their burrows, as well as a short tail and fur-covered feet.
Behavior
A behavioral characteristic of hamsters is food hoarding. They carry food in their spacious cheek pouches to their underground storage chambers. When full, the cheeks can make their heads double, or even triple in size. Hamsters lose weight during the autumn months in anticipation of winter. This occurs even when hamsters are kept as pets and is related to an increase in exercise.
Most hamsters are strictly solitary. If housed together, acute and chronic stress may occur, and they may fight fiercely, sometimes fatally. Hamsters communicate through body language to one another and even to their owner. This is by sending a specific scent using their scent glands.
Hamsters can be described as nocturnal or crepuscular (active mostly at dawn and dusk). Some of them can easily run up to 5 miles during this time. When hamsters are kept as pets, they maintain this natural routine.
Their waking hours take up the nighttime, whether in the wild or in captivity, which means that they are awake during the night. They prefer to be undisturbed, so wild hamsters will avoid other wildlife and people during this time. Any unwarranted disturbance in their sleep could very well lead to a bite from these tiny rodents. They survive best in rooms where the lights are not kept on till very late.
All hamsters are excellent diggers, constructing burrows with one or more entrances, with galleries connected to chambers for nesting, food storage, and other activities. They use their fore and hind legs, as well as their snouts and teeth, for digging.
Hamster mothers are very protective and keep their babies in pouches inside their mouths if they sense danger.
Distribution
The first of these small rodents was found in Syria. However, they are also found in Belgium, northern China, Romania, and Greece. In the wild, hamsters prefer living in warm and dry areas.
They like living in steppes, edges of deserts, and sand dunes.
Conservation
The population of pet hamsters is approximately 57 million. The wild population is unknown. About 11 million households have hamsters as pets. Little is known about hamsters living in zoos.
However, it is said that they multiply quickly and find their way into parks, universities, and zoos.
Domestication
The dwarf hamster is an exception. They are surprisingly social, and they enjoy having multiple friends around in their family. If a human earns the trust of a hamster as a pet, the animal will gently move towards their hand and even crawl into it.
They are fairly expressive animals, and there is no doubt about how they feel about their owner or surrounding animals. Hamsters make great family pets as they are low maintenance and fun to play with.
Hamsters bite when they are scared and when their sleep is interrupted. Some common names of pet hamsters include Cheeks, Chomper, Chewy, Harry, and Fuzzy.
4. Hedgehog
Cool and interesting facts about Hedgehog
- When a desert hedgehog wants to eat a scorpion, it must first bite the stinger off the tail. Some hedgehogs can even eat venomous snakes.
- Hedgehogs live up to 3-8 years in the wild and up to 10 years in captivity
- Hedgehogs can travel up to 2 miles (3 kilometers) a day and move at a speed of up to 6.5 feet (2 meters) per second.
- Hedgehogs are active at night but sleep all day, up to 18 hours!
- The hedgehog makes lots of foamy saliva in its mouth and smears it over its quills. It may do this to keep parasites off the skin or to make its quills taste bad to predators.
The hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) is a short and stout little mammal that is sometimes called a pincushion with legs! Unlike mammals that have fur or hair that is somewhat flexible and soft.
The fur hedgehog is a thick layer of spikes (or modified hairs) known as quills. These quills are made of keratin, the same stuff our hair and fingernails are made of. Its color varies it can be either white or light brown to black, with several shades found in bands along their quills.
Some hedgehogs have a dark brown or black mask across their eyes. These interesting critters have small but powerful legs and big feet with five toes each. with the exception of some who have four toes, making them incredible diggers.
A long snout with a wet nose gives them an excellent sense of smell. Their ears are large compared to body size, giving the spiky little creatures a good sense of hearing.
Behavior
They are solitary animals. Hedgehogs are active at night. They dig, chew, and forage through the darkest hours.
Distribution
There are 17 species of hedgehog in 5 genera which can live in many different habitats, from desert to forest and beyond! The desert-dwelling types live in areas that receive little rainfall.
Others live throughout Asia. European hedgehogs are widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia. However, the extinct genus Amphechinus was once present in North America.
In Africa, hedgehogs live in savannas, forests, and even city streets, where they waddle along, foraging for insects.
Hedgehogs live on the ground, never in trees. They like to live alone and may be territorial. Some hedgehogs dig burrows in the soil up to 50cm deep.
Others prefer to make nests with dead leaves, grasses, and branches. Desert hedgehogs hide between boulders or burrow into the sand to escape the desert heat. In Asia, long-eared hedgehogs often move into burrows left by turtles, foxes, gerbils, and otters.
Conservation
Although not currently listed as threatened or endangered, many hedgehogs face challenges. According to IUCN red list, it is a Least concern species
Domestication
Some people consider hedgehogs useful pets because they prey on many common garden pests. While on the hunt, they rely upon their senses of hearing and smell because their eyesight is weak.
However, in some parts of the world, like in states of the United States such as Hawaii, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and California, it is illegal to own a hedgehog as a pet. Such restrictions do not exist in most European countries, with the exception of Scandinavia.
It is important to note that, hedgehogs don’t make good pets. Hedgehogs have up to 44 teeth, and, like any wildlife with teeth, they can bite! They can also carry parasites on their quills. Hedgehogs are wondrous creatures, but remember that they just aren’t as cuddly as a dog or a cat.
5. Hyena
Cool and interesting facts about Hyenas
- The female spotted hyena is the only known mammal with no external vaginal opening. Instead, she must urinate, copulate and give birth through her multi-tasking pseudo-penis
- They are fierce, social, and incredibly Smart animals contrary to what you know about them.
- The spotted hyena is the largest species of hyena.
- Female hyenas possess similar-looking reproductive organs to males therefore accurate sexing can be difficult.
- The hyena is more closely related to the mongoose and cat than the dog
Hyenas are feliform carnivoran mammals of the family Hyaenidae. With just four extant species, it is the fifth smallest in the Carnivora family and one of the smallest in the mammalian class.
Among the four species of hyena, the largest, most widespread, and most misconstrued is the spotted hyena, Crocuta crocuta. With its scrappy fur, hunched back, and wide, drooling grin, this so-called laughing hyena may not be the prettiest of animals.
Behavior
Every hyena clan is a matriarchy ruled by an alpha female. In the clan’s strict power structure, dominance passes down the alpha female’s line to her cubs. Itinerant adult males rank last, reduced to submissive outcasts begging for acceptance, food, and sex.
Hyenas are social animals, hyenas have been spotted to gather in social groups bigger than any other carnivore their packs can number up to 130 individuals and they’ve been observed defending territories of up to 620 square miles.
They live by the clan, and everything they do is tied up with the female dominance hierarchy that underpins it, but they don’t remain together all the time. Instead, they spend much of their time in smaller splinter groups that coalesce in order to fight, hunt or feed.
Hyenas’ big brains enable them to recall each member’s voice and status, ensuring they have the political savvy to recognize friends from foes and negotiate their strict social hierarchy.
Also, the idea that hyenas are cowards has persisted well into the modern age.
Distribution
Over time, there have been several genera of hyenas, but most of them have become extinct. Today, there are only four species left, making it the least common family of mammals.
Despite their low diversity, hyenas are unique and an important part of ecosystems in Africa and parts of Asia. Hyena inhabits desert areas, semi-deserts, and open Savannahs.
Conservation
Depending on the species, hyenas inhabit certain protected areas in their native regions. The brown hyena, for example, develops on a larger scale in unprotected areas, which has led to it being considered near endangered by direct hunting in these unregulated spaces.
This is because they are mistakenly considered dangerous to livestock, even though this risk is really low. The striped hyena is easily tamed and can be fully trained, particularly when they are young.
Although the Ancient Egyptians did not consider striped hyenas sacred, they did supposedly tame them for use in hunting
Domestication
Humans and hyenas are long-standing enemies. Hyenas are not a choice of pet because of their aggressive nature.
Adult hyenas do not make good pets because they are aggressive and prone to attack animals including humans that attempt to dominate them.
On the other hand, young hyenas are fun pets for experienced caregivers who understand.
6. Hare
Cool and interesting facts about Hare
- The hare lives for an average of 2-12 years
- The hare’s front teeth never stop growing throughout its life.
- The animal must grind the teeth down by chewing on grass.
The hare is not a single species, but rather an entire genus known as Lepus (which is the Latin name for the hare). There are approximately 40 species in the world. They are divided into three different genera: Lepus, Caprolagus, and Pronolagus.
The hare is an animal that has been featured prominently in the mythology and folklore of human societies around the world such as the legend of the White Hare. Hares are herbivores.
The genus includes the largest lagomorphs, depending on the species, the body is about 40–70 cm long, with feet up to 15 cm long and ears up to 20 cm.
Most are fast runners with long, powerful hind legs, and large ears to dissipate body heat. A hare less than one year old is called a “leveret”. A group of hares is called a “husk”, a “down” or a “drove”.
Behavior
The hare is a nocturnal animal that spends the night awake and the day sleeping. They live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth.
Although they may not look it, hares are physically remarkable creatures with a finely developed sense of hearing, smell, and vision. Their wide angle of view allows them to detect predators coming from anywhere around them except for a small blind spot in front of their noses.
They also produce pheromones from scent glands, which might play a role in mating. Some species are capable of short bursts of speed between 40 and 50 MPH and more consistent speeds of around 30 MPH.
Thanks to their powerful hind limbs, they can leap 10 feet in the air. They are also excellent swimmers that can traverse rivers and large bodies of water without a problem.
Distribution
Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia, and North America. Wherever it’s found, these animals prefer to inhabit open plains such as meadows, grasslands, deserts, tundra, and savannas.
If they need to hide, then hares will conceal themselves in the grass, shrubs, or hollows. Only a few species live in more forested regions.
Conservation
The hare has traditionally been a common source of food for people, and they are still among the most hunted animals today. Most of this hunting is responsibly done.
However, an even greater threat is habitat loss and fragmentation, which has caused numbers to decline around the world. The IUCN Red List classifies the hare as a species of the least concern.
Domestication
No extant domesticated hares exist. However, hare remains have been found in a wide range of human settlement sites, some showing signs of use beyond simple hunting and eating.
7. Horse
Cool and interesting facts about Horse
- The horse has an average lifespan of 25-30 years
- Horses have made an indelible mark on human civilization.
- Horses are able to sleep while standing up! Horses can “power nap” while standing up to stay alert. For longer rests, they can lie down and reach REM cycles.
- Although there are only one species of the domestic horse, there are 350 different breeds around the world.
- Horses have bigger eyes than any other land mammal.
- The Horse has evolved over 50 million years!
The horse (Equus ferus caballus) is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, single-toed animal of today.
Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. These feral populations are not truly wild horses, as this term is used to describe horses that have never been domesticated.
There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior.
Behavior
Horses are adapted to run, allowing them to quickly escape predators, and possess an excellent sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response.
Horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down, with younger horses tending to sleep significantly more than adults. Horses are reactive animals by nature and will run at the first sign of danger. However, with proper training, this behavior can be overcome to make horses and riders safer.
Horses are social animals that enjoy being around other horses. They engage in activities like playing and grooming each other. They also exercise their senses by smelling each other and their surroundings. In a natural setting, horses graze and use their senses of smell, sight, and hearing to stay safe and find food.
Horses that live together communicate with each another mainly through body language. Horses have developed subtle and obvious signals in order to communicate with one another.
Horses that live in herds have many advantages, such as being able to take turns being on the lookout for predators and having more sets of eyes and ears to detect them. Horses kept alone are more likely to be stressed due to a lack of companionship.
Distribution
These animals are well-suited to all kinds of environments and climates. They are widely spread in Africa, Asia, and Central America. Eurasia, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America.
Domestic horses can live almost anywhere so long as there is shelter, food, and space to run. Some of them are still wild, like North American mustangs.
These animals roam freely and comfortably along the prairies and plains of the western area of North America.
Conservation
There are 60 million domesticated horses worldwide and 600,000 wild horses. There are thought to be more than 350 different breeds of these animals found around the world today, each being bred for a purpose. The current population trend of the horse is not known
Domestication
Humans began domesticating horses around 4000 BCE, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BCE. Horses and humans interact in a wide variety of sports competitions and non-competitive recreational pursuits, as well as in working activities such as police work, agriculture, entertainment, and therapy.
Horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control.
Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, and pharmaceuticals extracted from the urine of pregnant mares.
Humans provide domesticated horses with food, water, and shelter as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers.
There are 60 million domesticated horses in the world.
8. Hartebeest
Cool and interesting facts about Hartebeest
- The hartebeest has a lifespan that is roughly between 11-20 years.
- It is believed that the ancient Egyptian kind of domesticated the hartebeest, only to use the animal as a sacrifice for their rituals.
- Alcelaphus buselaphus buselaphus, a subspecies of the hartebeest is now enlisted to be extinct.
The hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus ), also known as kongoni or kaama, is an African antelope. It is the only member of the genus Alcelaphus.
The term “hartebeest” is known to have been derived from Afrikaans; they originally called it the hartebeest. Eight subspecies have been described, including two sometimes considered to be independent species.
A large antelope, the hartebeest stands just over 1 m at the shoulder and has a typical head and body length of 200 to 250 cm. The weight is from 100 to 200 kg. It has a long forehead and oddly-shaped horns, a short neck, and pointed ears. Its legs, which often have black markings, are unusually long.
The coat is generally short and shiny. The hartebeest may have an unusual appearance, but it is one of the antelopes’ fastest and most enduring runners.
Behavior
The hartebeest is one such antelope that is easy to hunt, owing to its sedentary nature. However, the onset of dry seasons or drought will make these animals wander large distances in groups (of course) to seek water and grazing.
These animals are generally diurnal in nature; whereby they spend most of the time eating grass in the daytime. They tend to become solitary and also spread out in adjoining territories. Males consistently defend their territories.
Males may get pretty aggressive, especially during the breeding peaks. It is not unusual for fights to break out at this time. Like in the case of most antelopes, the hartebeests have also developed fighting skills that ensure dominance while avoiding fatal or serious injuries.
The behavior of the female hartebeest during the time of giving birth is rare for most antelopes. It is noted that the female does not prefer calving in groups in an open plain; rather it chooses isolated scrub areas to give birth and also leaves the young calf hidden for several fortnights, attending to it occasionally to suckle.
Distribution
This grassland antelope is mostly found in the west, east, and southern regions of Africa. They live in dry savannas, open plains, and wooded grasslands, often moving into more arid places after rainfall.
They are tolerant of wooded areas and are often found on the edges of woodlands. Hartebeest prefers medium to tall grasslands (including the savannas), open woodlands, and dry scrub bush habitats.
These animals are observed to be comparatively more tolerant of high grass or woods than other antelopes common to archetypical plains.
Conservation
The population size of the hartebeest is about 362,000, according to the IUCN Red List. There are estimates of their subspecies’ populations in specific areas:
Red hartebeest in southern Africa – 130,000 animals; Swayne’s hartebeest in Ethiopia – less than 800 animals; Western hartebeest – 36,000 animals; Lelwel hartebeest – 70,000 animals; Kenya hartebeest – 3,500 animals; Lichtenstein’s hartebeest – 82,000 animals; Coke’s hartebeest – 42,000 animals.
Currently, hartebeests are classified as “least concern” (LC) on the IUCN Red List, but their numbers are decreasing. The hartebeest is not an endangered species.
Domestication
Hartebeest according to history was first domesticated in Egypt though it was only used as a sacrificial animal. However, it can be domesticated provided there is available space for its free movement and a constant supply of grass.
9. Hammerhead shark
Cool and interesting facts about Hammerhead Shark
- The longest great hammerhead shark ever recorded was 20 feet (6.1 m) long, and the heaviest great hammerhead shark ever recorded was 991 pounds (450 kg).
- It has an average lifespan of 20-30 years in the wild
- Hammerhead sharks have been found at depths of 984 feet (300 m) but typically stay in coastal waters up to 262 feet (80 m) deep.
- Hammerhead sharks are believed to be cannibalistic, eating their own species if need be.
- Hammerhead sharks have been found with stingray and catfish barbs sticking out of their mouths, suggesting that they are immune to stingray and catfish venom.
Hammerhead sharks are a group of sharks that form the family Sphyrnidae, so named for the unusual and distinctive structure of their heads, which are flattened and laterally extended into a “hammer” shape called a cephalofoil.
Most hammerhead species are placed in the genus Sphyrna, while the wing-head shark is placed in its own genus, Eusphyra. Hammerhead sharks have long, serrated teeth and use their hammer-shaped heads to detect and eat prey.
Their heads are equipped with electrical receptors that can sense potential prey, including those hiding in the sand. Hammerheads primarily feed on prey at the seafloor, such as stingrays, cephalopods (octopus and squid), crustaceans, and other sharks.
Behavior
Hammerheads are aggressive hunters, feeding on smaller fish, octopuses, squid, and crustaceans. They do not actively seek out human prey, but are very defensive and will attack when provoked.
One group of sensory organs is the ampullae of Lorenzini, which allows sharks to detect, among other things, the electrical fields created by prey animals.
The hammerhead’s increased ampullae sensitivity allows it to find its favorite meal, stingrays, which usually bury themselves under the sand.
Their wide-set eyes give them a better visual range than most other sharks. And by spreading their highly specialized sensory organs over their wide, mallet-shaped head, they can more thoroughly scan the ocean for food.
Distribution
The hammerhead shark is found throughout the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans and also in the Mediterranean Sea.
Conservation
The hammerheads are listed on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) 2008 Red List as endangered. The status given to these sharks is as a result of overfishing and demand for their fins, an expensive delicacy.
Domestication
Most hammerhead species are fairly small and are considered harmless to humans. However, the great hammerhead’s enormous size and fierceness make it potentially dangerous, though few attacks have been recorded.
10. Hippopotamus
Cool and interesting facts about Hippopotamus
- A hippo’s lifespan is typically 40 to 65 years.
- Hippos often nap in the water during the daytime. A subconscious reflex allows them to push themselves to the surface to breathe without waking up so they can sleep without drowning. At sunset, they leave the water to graze, eating up to 110 pounds of grass each night.
- Hippos cannot swim or breathe underwater, and unlike most mammals, they are so dense that they cannot float
- When basking on the shore, they secrete an oily red sweat-like substance that moistens their skin, repels water, and protects them from the sun and germs. This reddish liquid is behind the myth that hippos sweat blood.
- The hippopotamus has an enormous head that makes up around a third of its total body weight
The hippopotamus or hippo (pl: hippopotamuses or hippopotami) is a large semi-aquatic mammal. It is one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus (Choeropsis liberiensis or Hexaprotodon liberiensis).
These are huge herbivores are known for their enormous teeth, aggressive nature, and the myth that they sweat blood.
They are the world’s third-largest land mammals after elephants and white rhinos. Males can reach lengths of 10.8 to 16.5 feet, and weigh up to 9,920 pounds, while females weigh up to 3,000 pounds.
These muscular animals have round torsos and pinkish-brown bodies with two-inch-thick, waterproof skin, and short, stout legs. They might not look aerodynamic, but hippos can reach speeds of up to 22 miles per hour on land over short distances.
Behavior
The hippopotamus spends up to 18 hours a day in the water to keep cool, but when darkness falls, they come out to land and follow well-trodden paths to their feeding grounds before returning to the water in the morning.
The hippopotamus is one of the largest and most feared animals in Africa, as both males and females are known to be incredibly aggressive at points.
The hippopotamus tends to live in small herds containing between 10 and 20 individuals that are comprised of females with their young. The herd is led by the dominant male, who will fiercely guard his stretch of river bank against both intruders and rival males, threatening them by opening his enormous mouth to expose the 18-inch long tusks.
These social animals live in groups called herds or pods, which typically include around 40 individuals or as many as 200. They are highly territorial and use dung middens, an area where they repeatedly poop, to mark their territory and communicate with other hippos.
Males will use their tails to flick their dung in all directions as a display of dominance.
Distribution
Hippos inhabit rivers, lakes, and mangrove swamps native to sub-Saharan Africa. Territorial bulls each preside over a stretch of water and a group of five to thirty cows and calves.
Although historically, the hippopotamus would have once been found across Europe and Asia, today, they are confined to Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
The hippopotamus is always found close to the water and tends to prefer areas close to grasslands, where they feed during the night.
Conservation
Hippos are among the most dangerous animals in the world due to their aggressive and unpredictable nature. They are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory (canine teeth). The International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies hippos as vulnerable to extinction.
Although the hippopotamus doesn’t have many predators, it is threatened by poaching for its meat, fat, and ivory teeth. Other threats include the loss of its habitat and human-hippo conflicts.
Because the species is slow to reproduce, threats can significantly impact population numbers. Its estimated population size is 150,000
Domestication
The hippopotamus can be found in all kinds of ancient African folklore, with its name in Greek actually meaning “Water Horse.” The hippopotamus due to its aggressive nature is not that is considered to be domesticated.
Conclusion
There aren’t just animals whose names begin with the letter H. Also, there are many more that we will be exploring in subsequent articles. However, I do hope the information you got was worth your time.
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Ahamefula Ascension is a Real Estate Consultant, Data Analyst, and Content writer. He is the founder of Hope Ablaze Foundation and a Graduate of Environmental Management in one of the prestigious colleges in the country. He is obsessed with Reading, Research and Writing.