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RHINOCEROS

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Originally appearing in Volume V23, Page 245 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RHINOCEROS , the designation for such perissodactyle (See also:

odd-toed) ungulate mammals as carry one or more horns on the See also:head, and their See also:extinct relatives (see See also:PERISSODACTYLA). Rhinoceroses are of large See also:size and massive build, but have little intelligence, and are generally timid in disposition, though ferocious when wounded or brought to See also:bay. The See also:African See also:species use the nasal horns as weapons, with which they strike and toss their assailant, but the See also:Asiatic rhinoceroses employ their See also:sharp See also:lower tusks much as does a See also:boar. Rhinoceroses are dull of sight, but their See also:hearing and See also:scent are remarkably acute. They feed on herbage, shrubs and leaves of trees, and, like so many other large animals which inhabit hot countries, See also:sleep the greater See also:part of the See also:day, and are most active in the cool of the evening or even during the See also:night. Some are found in more or less open plains, while others inhabit swampy districts. Members of the See also:group have existed in both See also:east and See also:west hemispheres since the beginning of the See also:Miocene See also:period; but in See also:America they all became extinct before the end of the See also:Pliocene period, and in the Old See also:World their See also:distribution has become greatly restricted. They are, for instance, no longer found in See also:Europe and See also:North See also:Asia, but only in See also:Africa and in portions of the See also:Indian and Indo-Malayan regions. Living rhinoceroses may be arranged in three See also:groups: (1) With a single nasal See also:horn, and very thick skin, which is raised into strong, definitely arranged ridges or folds. In this group there are two well-marked species. The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the largest of the Asiatic forms, is the most°widely known, from its being exhibited in zoological gardens. A famous rhinoceros presented to the Zoological Society of See also:London in See also:July 1864 lived till See also:December 1004.

This species stands from 5 ft. to 5 ft. 9 in. at the See also:

shoulder and is blackish See also:grey in See also:colour; the horn rarely exceeds a See also:foot in length, but one in the See also:British Museum See also:measures 19 in. This species is now only met with in a See also:wild stood 5 ft. 6 in. high. This species is more an inhabitant of See also:tree-See also:forest than of grass See also:jungle, and its usual See also:habitat appears to be in hilly, countries. In the second See also:section there is a well-See also:developed nasal, and a small frontal horn separated by an See also:interval. The skin is thrown into folds, but these are not strongly marked, and lower tusks are See also:present. This group or genus is represented at the present day only by the Sumatran rhinoceros, Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus) sumatrensis, with its sub-species. It is the smallest of all the species, and its See also:geographical range is nearly the same as that of the Javan species, though not extending into See also:Java; it has been found in See also:Assam, See also:Chittagong, See also:Burma, the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula, See also:Sumatra and See also:Borneo. The colour varies from earthy See also:brown to blackish, and the greater part of the See also:body is thinly covered with See also:hair, and the ears and tail are fringed. The See also:average height of adults is from 4 ft. to 4 ft. 6 in.

This species inhabits forests, and ascends hills to considerable elevations; it is shy and timid, but easily tamed even when adult. A specimen from Chittagong acquired in 1872 by the Zoological Society of London was named R. lasiotis, as it differed from the typical See also:

form by, its larger size, paler and browner colour, smoother skin, longer, finer and redder hair, and the See also:long fringe of hair on the ears. It is now recognized as a See also:local See also:race. 244 See also:state in the Assam See also:plain, though it formerly had a wider range. The first rhinoceros seen alive in Europe since the See also:time when these animals, in See also:common with nearly all the large remarkable beasts of both Africa and Asia, were exhibited in the See also:Roman shows, was of this species. It was sent from See also:India to See also:Emmanuel, See also:king of See also:Portugal, in 1513; and from a See also:sketch taken in See also:Lisbon, See also:Albert See also:Durer composed his celebrated but fanciful See also:engraving, which was reproduced in so many old books on natural See also:history. This species chiefly frequents swampy grass jungle and is fond of a mud-See also:bath. According to See also:General A. H. Kinloch, it is hunted by " tracking the See also:animal on a single See also:elephant until he is at last found in his lair, or perhaps See also:standing quite unconscious of danger; or by beating him out of the jungle with a See also:line of elephants, the guns being stationed at the points where he is most likely to break See also:cover. In the latter See also:case it is necessary to have reliable men with the beaters, who can exercise authority and keep them in See also:order, for both mahouts and elephants have the greatest dread of the huge See also:brute, who appears to be much more formidable than he really is." The Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus) is distinguished by its smaller size, and a different arrangement of the skin-folds (as may be seen by comparing See also:figs. i and 2). The horn in the See also:female is little developed, if not altogether absent.

This species has a more extensive geographical range than the last, being found in the See also:

Bengal See also:Sundarbans near See also:Calcutta, Burma, the Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra and Borneo. The colour is See also:uniform dusky grey. A female obtained in the Sundarbans To the third group or genus (Diceros) belong the two African rhinoceroses, which have two horns, the skin without definite folds, and no lower tusks. The See also:black rhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) bicornis) is the smaller of the two, and has a pointed prehensile upper See also:lip. It ranges through the wooded and watered districts of Africa, from See also:Abyssinia in the north to the Cape See also:Colony, but its See also:numbers are yearly diminishing, owing to the opening up of the See also:country. It feeds exclusively on leaves and branches of bushes and small trees, and chiefly frequents the sides of See also:wood-clad rugged hills. Specimens in which the posterior horn has attained a length as See also:great as or greater than the anterior have been separated under the name of R. keitloa, but the characters of these appendages are too variable for specific distinctions. The black rhinoceros is more rarely seen in menageries in Europe than either of the Asiatic species, but one lived in the gardens of the London Zoological Society from 1868-1891. Lastly we have the See also:white—Burchell's, or square-mouthedrhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) simus), the largest of the five, and differing from the other species in having a square truncated upper lip. In conformity with the structure of the mouth, this species lives entirely by browsing on grass, and is therefore more partial to open countries or districts where there are broad grassy valleys between the tracts of See also:bush. In its old haunts in the See also:south it is practically extinct; ,but ten were reported from a reserve in See also:Zululand in 1902. A detached colony exists, however, near Lado, on the Upper See also:Nile.

No specimen of this species has ever been brought alive to Europe. Mr F. C. See also:

Selous gives the following description of its habits: "The square-mouthed rhinoceros is a huge, ungainly looking beast, with a disproportionately large head, a large male standing 6 ft. 6 in. at the shoulder. Like elephants and buffaloes they See also:lie asleep during the See also:heat of the day, and feed during the night and in the cool See also:hours of See also:early See also:morning and evening. Their sight is very See also:bad; but they are See also:quick of hearing, and their scent is very keen ; they are, too, often accompanied by rhinoceros birds, which, by See also:running about their heads, flapping their wings, and screeching at the same time, frequently give them See also:notice of the approach of danger. When disturbed they go off at a See also:swift trot, which soon leaves all pursuit from a See also:man on foot far behind; but if chased by a horseman they break into a gallop, which they can keep up for some distance. However, although they run very swiftly, when their size and heavy build is considered, they are no match for an average See also:good See also:horse. They are, as a See also:rule, very easy to shoot on horseback, as, if one gallops a little in front of and on one See also:side of them, : they will hold their course, and come sailing past, offering a magnificent See also:broadside shot, while under similar circumstances a prehensile-lipped rhinoceros will usually swerve away in such a manner as only to present his See also:hind-quarters for a shot. When either walking or running, the square-mouthed rhinoceros holds its head very See also:low, its See also:nose nearly touching the ground. When a small See also:calf accompanies its See also:mother, it always runs in front and she appears to See also:guide it by holding the point of her horn upon the little animal's rump; and it is perfectly wonderful to See also:note how in all sudden changes of See also:pace, from a trot to a gallop, or See also:vice versa, the same position is always exactly maintained.

During the autumn and See also:

winter months (i.e. from See also:March to See also:August) the square-mouthed rhinoceros is usually very See also:fat; and its See also:meat is then most excellent, being something like See also:beef, but yet having a See also:peculiar flavour of its own. The part in greatest favour among hunters is the hump, which, if cut off whole and roasted just as it is in the skin, in a hole dug in the ground, would, I think, be difficult to match either for juiciness or flavour." (W. H. F.; R.

End of Article: RHINOCEROS

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