The really clever thing about hippos is that they produce their own sunscreen, in the form of a sticky reddish sweat. Now, a team from Kyoto Pharmaceutical University, Japan, has explained the chemistry of this special substance It has told Nature magazine the oily secretion is made up of two unstable pigments - one red, the other orange. The red pigment also has antibacterial properties, which work to protect the hippo from certain pathogens and accelerate its recovery from wounds.
