A Hippo’s Tale

By Ash Tollefson

For Ages 6-8

One summer day, Bubbles the baby hippo and his Mama went to visit
their Aunts and Cousins in the ocean. Even though Bubbles and Mama
had to stay on the boat, since hippos can’t swim or float, they still had
a lot of fun! Cousin Potato and Bubbles talked for hours.
Bubbles stuck his head underwater and showed how he had a clear film
over his eyes so they were protected, but he could still see. Potato
showed Bubbles how long they could hold their breath. Back home,
Bubbles could hold his breath for over three minutes. Potato beat him
easily.
Bubbles didn’t want to go home! But eventually, they had to leave.
Bubbles and Mama said goodbye and started to walk back home. It was
very sunny, but Bubbles didn’t mind. His body made it’s own natural, thick,
red sunscreen that protected him from the sun.
Bubbles walked quickly and ran up ahead of Mama. She didn’t mind. After
all, Mama could run much faster than him. One time, he saw her go
almost 12 mph!
Eventually, Bubbles got tired and slowed down to walk behind Mama. He
wondered if there was a river nearby where they could sleep.
As Bubbles and Mama walked, he started to think. He thought
about the day and much fun it was to spend time with Potato.
And then he started to think about Potato.
Potato and Bubbles were both big and loved the water, but
that’s all they had in common. They looked nothing alike. He
thought back to what Rosie the crocodile, and how she said that
he couldn’t be related to whales, that he looked more like a pig
or a horse.
Bubbles wondered if maybe Rosie was right. Maybe he wasn’t
related to Potato. But how could that be possible?
“Mom? Are Potato and Aunt Star and Aunt Luna really related to
us?
“Of course.” Mama said. “Why are you asking that?”
“Rosie said that I couldn’t be related to Potato, since we don’t
look anything alike. She said that I look more like a pig than a
whale. And she’s right. Bubbles said. “Potato and I don’t look
anything alike. They don’t have legs or hair. They aren’t
vegetarian like us. How can we be related if we’re so different?”
Mama stopped and looked at Bubbles for a long time, then said:
“First of all, Rosie isn’t the best person to go to for facts.
Second of a all, we are not related to pigs, even though we look
similar. And third of all, let me tell you a story. A long, long, long
time ago, there was an animal.”
“What did it look like?” Asked Bubbles.
“We don’t know. But we do know it had kids. And some of
them decided to go on land. And because they went on land,
they had to change. It was hard and over the generations,
they had to develop all the right traits to survive. But they
did! And soon their descendants had legs to walk and teeth
to eat grass. And you know who they became? Us! You don’t
need fins where we live. You need to have legs and ears!”
“And the other kids, the ones who didn’t go on land, they
changed too. They needed big tails and teeth that look
nothing like ours. They developed the right traits to live in
the ocean over many years and many generations. And you
know what they became?”
Bubbles shook his head.
“Whales.”
“Really?” Bubbles asked, totally amazed.
“Yep.”
“So you see,” Mama continued, “We really are cousins. We just
don’t look alike.”
“Because we live in different places and need different things.”
Mama smiled. “That’s right. But even if we weren’t cousins, we’d
still be family. Family doesn’t always mean you’re related. Family
means people who love and support you no matter what. You
understand?”
Bubbles nodded and smiled. But then he had another thought.
“When can we go visit again?”
“We’ll just have to wait and see.”
 Citations
1. Harris, G. (Ed.). (2019, October 15). 10 Hippo Facts! Retrieved March 10, 2020, from
https://www.natgeokids.com/nz/discover/animals/general-animals/ten-hippo-facts/

This article is from National Geographic, a well respected and nationally renowned
journalistic site. It contains a basic overview of hippos and several good facts. It talks about
how hippos are aquatic mammals that live most of their lives in the water, but still go on
land and breathe oxygen. They are also vegetarians and eat up to 35Kg a day of food. They
are considered the second largest land animal on earth, secrete an oily, red substance that
protects their skin from the sun and can hold their breath for up to five minutes. There are
a few other facts besides those that I may or may not use. I am going to use this
information to provide background information about hippos and give an accurate picture
throughout the story.

2. Thanukos, A. (Ed.). (n.d.). The Evolution of Whales. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://
evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/evograms_03

This article is from a website created by Berkeley College. It is a well respected college and
considered one of the nations top schools. It is specifically known for it’s science programs
and is ranked close to number 1 in the nation for biology and biochemistry. The article
talks about hippo and whales and how they’re related. It specifically states that hippos and
whales are the closest living relatives to each other, but neither of them are ancestors of
the other. It’s extremely detailed and takes the reader through many different ancestors of
the hippo and what they looked like compared to the modern hippo. It also talks about the
anatomy of the whale, and how it’s skeleton shares some similarities with the hippo. This is
just another source that confirms that hippos and whales are indeed related. It also helps
me with talking about the common ancestor they both shared.
3. Benson, J. (Ed.). (n.d.). Scientists find a missing link between the whale and its closest
relative, the hippo. Retrieved March 11, 2020, from https://phys.org/news/2005-01-
scientists-link-whale-closest-relative.html

This article is from a scientific website and journal, and has the ending .org. It also
cites Berkely, a well-respected scientific college as their source, so that gives it
credibility. The article talks about hippos and whales and their relationship, and
argues that they are first cousins. Around 50-60 million years ago, whales and hippos
had a common ancestor that they both stemmed from. It also talks about how
though hippos and pigs may resemble each other more on the surface, their genetics
show a relationship to whales and porpoises. I’m going to use this in the plot of my
novel, since I’m going to have a young hippo ask its mother why, if they’re related to
whales, why don’t they look alike.

4. Ghose, T. (2015, February 24). Images of an Ancient Hippo Ancestor. Retrieved March
16, 2020, from https://www.livescience.com/49922-images-hippo-ancestor.html

This is from a scientific journal called livescience. It’s not the most reliable source, but
it backs up what the other two articles, so that lends it credence. The article isn’t
about how whales and hippos are related, but it still has good information. Ity talks
about a fossil that was found in Kenya that confirms a scientific theory about which
ancient animal hippos evolved from. The majority of it is about the fossil and how
hippos evolved throughout time. I won’t be using that information in my book. I will
be using the family trees, which shows how exactly whales and hippos are related. It
gives a great visualization of how they’re related. It will reinforce my book and flesh
out the details of the hippos evolution.
5. Hippo. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2020, from https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/
animals/hippo

This article is from the San Diego Zoo website. The San Diego Zoo is one of the
nation's most famous zoos and actually takes care of hippos. The article is an
extremely in depth look at hippos, their behavior and basic information about them
in the wild and in captivity. It talks about how hippos are very aggressive and often
get into fights and injure each other. Especially for younger hippos, the most
dangerous predators for hippos are other hippos. It goes into detail about hippos'
habitat, eating patterns, diet, anatomy, and actions throughout the day. The article
also talks about the zoo's own hippos and how many they have. The other article I
got on hippos was just a list of facts. This article is a much more in depth look at
hippos, and will help me create a realistic picture of hippos in the wild.