Hippo poop cycles silicon through the East African environment
The animals play an outsized role in pumping a nutrient crucial to the food web into waterways
![hippo](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/043019_cg_hippo_feat.jpg?fit=860%2C460&ssl=1)
HIPPOOPING Hippos consume silicon-bearing grass and then excrete into lakes or rivers, such as this one in Kenya’s Mara River.
Amanda Subalusky