Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Could hippos survive the Mesozoic? Hippopotamus amphibious is one of the most recognizable and aggressive forms of megafauna in modern times. Reaching up to 2.6 tonnes at maximum size, they’re the mafia bosses of African river systems. Hippo attacks result in over five hundred human deaths annually, thanks to their physical power and incredible aggression. Territorial to an extreme, they’ll happily attack and capsize boats as well as gore whoever was on board. Even lions and Nile crocodiles tend to give fully-grown hippos a wide berth. While hippos may be the bee’s knees in modern Africa, would they still dominate in a world filled with archosaurian predators bigger than they are? We’ll place a population of five hundred males and five hundred females into the Bahariya Formation of Cretaceous Africa, a haven for dinosaurian super carnivores. They’ll be judged from 1 to 10 on their ability to adapt to their new Home, forage for food to deal with their Hunger, and confront the Hanger of native predators and competitors. Will they Thrive…or be Eaten Alive?
00:00: Could Hippos Survive the Mesozoic?
01:10: Home
02:39: Hunger
03:50: Hanger
08:55: Speculative Evolution
Check out Mark Witton's Patreon here: patreon.com/c/markwitton/home?redirect=true
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCmkkmzfWWf4HzrO8SGO3gjw/join
Could hippos survive the Mesozoic? Hippopotamus amphibious is one of the most recognizable and aggressive forms of megafauna in modern times. Reaching up to 2.6 tonnes at maximum size, they’re the mafia bosses of African river systems. Hippo attacks result in over five hundred human deaths annually, thanks to their physical power and incredible aggression. Territorial to an extreme, they’ll happily attack and capsize boats as well as gore whoever was on board. Even lions and Nile crocodiles tend to give fully-grown hippos a wide berth. While hippos may be the bee’s knees in modern Africa, would they still dominate in a world filled with archosaurian predators bigger than they are? We’ll place a population of five hundred males and five hundred females into the Bahariya Formation of Cretaceous Africa, a haven for dinosaurian super carnivores. They’ll be judged from 1 to 10 on their ability to adapt to their new Home, forage for food to deal with their Hunger, and confront the Hanger of native predators and competitors. Will they Thrive…or be Eaten Alive?
00:00: Could Hippos Survive the Mesozoic?
01:10: Home
02:39: Hunger
03:50: Hanger
08:55: Speculative Evolution
Check out Mark Witton's Patreon here: patreon.com/c/markwitton/home?redirect=true
Join this channel to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCmkkmzfWWf4HzrO8SGO3gjw/join
