whippo

English

Etymology

Blend of whale +‎ hippo, reportedly coined by John Gatesy et al. in 1996.^[1]

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪpəʊ/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪpoʊ/
Rhymes: -ɪpəʊ

Noun

whippo (plural whippos)

(colloquial) Any member of the suborder Whippomorpha, including whales and hippopotamuses.
- 1999 August 31, <cbrochu@fmppr.fmnh.org>, “Hippos with time machines.”, in sci.bio.paleontology‎^[1] (Usenet), via Google Groups:
  I hasten to point out that the molecular data sets supporting the "whippo" clade are frought with problems, many of which are currently being addressed by several high-caliber systematists, and so we may not have heard the last word on this issue.
- 1999 November, Richard Monastersky, “The Whale's Tale: Searching for the landlubbing ancestors of marine mammals”, in Science News, volume 156, number 19, →DOI, →ISSN, page 298:
  The whippo lineage may have developed a watery lifestyle even before the hippos and whale branches diverged.
- 2016, Faysal Bibi, Grégoire Métais, “Eviolotionary History of the Large Herbivores of South and Southeast Asia (Indomalayan Realm)”, in Harid S. Ahrestani, Mahesh Sankaran, editors, The Ecology of Large Herbivores in South and South East Asia (Ecological Studies), volume 225, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 42:
  Molecular analyses also support a closer relationship of ‘whippos’ to ruminants than to pigs or camels (Fig. 2.9), a clade named Cetruminantia (e.g., Hassanin et al. 2012).
Synonyms: whippomorph, whippomorphan, cetancodont, cetancodontan
(colloquial) A hypothetical common ancestor between whales and hippopotamuses.
- 2012, Keith B. Miller, “Countering Common Misconceptions of Evolution in the Paleontology Classroom”, in Margaret M. Yacobucci, Rowan Lockwood, editors, The Paleontological Society Special Publications, volume 12, The Paleontological Society, published 26 July 2017, →DOI, page 113:
  As an example of this confusion, transitional forms are not to be sought between equally derived living whales and their closest living relatives, the hippos. We do not search for "whippos."
- 2015, Olufemi Emmanuel Dokun-Babalola, Evolution: What Dawkins Did Not Tell You: A Riposte to the Book 'The greatest Show on Earth'‎^[2], Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co, via Google Books, →ISBN:
  The "whippo" is a problem for evolutionists on at least two counts: hippos are plant eaters, not meat eaters; all cetaceans are carnivores[.]
- 2021, Charles R. Ault Jr., Beyond Science Standards: Play, Art, Coherence, Community‎^[3], London: Rowman & Littlefield, via Google Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 140:
  The school stood where once roamed the Hell Pig, an extinct entelodont with ancestral affinities to "whippos"—the common ancestors of whales and hippos.

References

^ Peter J. Waddell, Norihiro Okada, Masami Hasegawa (March 1999), Systematic Biology, volume 48, number 1, Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISSN: “Whippomorpha = Cetacea + Hippopotamidae, with the name a litinization of the colloquial term coined by Gatesy et al. (1996) to describe the novel "Whippo" hypothesis that whales and hippos are closest relatives.”

[1] Peter J. Waddell, Norihiro Okada, Masami Hasegawa (March 1999), Systematic Biology, volume 48, number 1, Oxford University Press, →DOI, →ISSN: “Whippomorpha = Cetacea + Hippopotamidae, with the name a litinization of the colloquial term coined by Gatesy et al. (1996) to describe the novel "Whippo" hypothesis that whales and hippos are closest relatives.”

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