A hippopotamus is a mammal; therefore, the heart of a hippopotamus is a four-chambered mammalian heart. A four-chambered heart is an incredibly efficient and well-designed heart because it prevents oxygen-rich blood from mixing with oxygen-poor blood. The heart is divided into a left and right side. The right side of the heart will contain oxygen-poor blood that is returning to the heart from various places in the body. The left side of the heart will pump oxygen-rich blood out to the various parts of the body.
Besides being divided into a left and right side, a mammal's heart also contains top chambers and bottom chambers. The top chambers are called atria and the bottom chambers are called ventricles. This gives the heart four total chambers. It has a right atrium, a right ventricle, a left atrium, and a left ventricle. Blood will flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle. From here, it will be pumped out of the heart to the lungs. The lungs will exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen, and the blood will return to the left atrium of the heart. The blood will then be pumped down into the left ventricle. From there, the blood will be pumped out of the heart to the body, and the process will start all over again once the blood returns to the right atrium.
https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=115520
The simple answer: 4 chambers (2 atria [plural form of atrium] and 2 ventricles)
The complex answer: A hippopotamus is a mammal, and all mammals have four chambered hearts. The 2 atria receive blood, which in turn push blood to the ventricles, which ultimately pump blood away from the heart.
Each ventricle is thicker and more muscular than each atrium as these are the parts of the hear that must apply the force to pump blood throughout the body.
The right atrium receives oxygen-deficient blood from the veins of the mammal body. This blood is then moved to the right ventricle where it is forcefully pumped to the lungs to be replenished with oxygen. This oxygen-rich blood from the lungs is then moved into the left atrium, which then moves the blood to the left ventricle. The left ventricle then forcefully pumps blood through arteries, away from the heart, and throughout the body to distribute oxygen to the needy body parts (muscles, brain, etc.). This continuous cycle then starts over again as this oxygen-deficient blood is returned to the right atrium.
The four chambered heart is considered very efficient because the oxygen-rich and oxygen-deficient blood is not mixed (hearts with 3 chambers mix the two blood types). This keeps the blood being pumped to the body as oxygen-rich as possible.
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