<p style="text-align: justify;">Morphological studies were conducted on the skull of a hippopotamus brought to the Veterinary college for postmortem examination. &nbsp;Skull of the hippopotamus was huge and notable for its little brain case and high supra-orbital ridges. The skull had a larger splanchnocranium than the neurocranium. &nbsp;From the dorsal view, the skull had a watch glass appearance because of its narrow middle portion (at the region of maxillae) and wide caudal and rostral portions. &nbsp;Maxilla showed a large Eminenta canina and two infraorbital foramina leading to two separate infraorbital canals. The premaxilla lodged two huge incisors and just above the central incisor, there was a large rough eminence for the elevated nostrils. Three to four large rounded lacrimal bullae were seen on the floor of the bony orbit. &nbsp;Frontal bone presented a strongly convex smooth supra-orbital ridge that formed upper margin of the orbit which projected from the surface of the skull. &nbsp;The median sagittal crest was very high that diverged to accommodate the concave forehead in front. Temporal fossa was very extensive. &nbsp;Caudal surface of the skull showed a concave nuchal surface and the external occipital protuberance was in the form of a crest. The paramastoid process and external auditory process were very short. Bulla tympanica was conical with a pyramidal muscular process. &nbsp;Anatomical peculiarities of the skull and their functional significance are discussed.</p>


Gross anatomy of the skull of hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius)