RHINOCEROS, (1) the sole recent genus of the family Rhinocerotida. It falls naturally into three sections, which some zoologists raise to the rank of genera.
(a) Rhinoceros.—Adults with a single large compressed incisor above on each side, occasionally a small lateral one, be low a very small median, and a very large procumbent, pointed, lateral incisor ; nasal bone pointed in front; single nasal horn; skin very thick, and raised into strong, definitely arranged folds. There are two well-marked species: (1) Rhinoceros uni corns (Linnus; indicus, Cuvier), now found wild only in the terai regions of Nepal and Bhotan and in Assam, though it had formerly a much wider geographi cal range; (2) R. sondaicus (or javanus, Cuvier), the Javan rhinoceros, is smaller and distinguished by the different ar rangement of the folds of the skin, and by the small size or absence of the horn in the female. Found near Calcutta, in Burma, Malay Peninsula, Java, Sumatra, and probably Borneo. R. unicorns was known to the ancients, and was seen prob ably for the first time by modern Euro peans when one was sent to the King of Portugal from India in 1513.
(b) Ceratorhinus.—The folds are not so strongly marked as in the first section. There is a well-developed nasal, and a small frontal horn, separated by an in terval. The name, R. sumatrensis, has possibly been applied to more than one species, and two animals in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, London, pre sented considerable differences of form and color. Sclater named one of them R. lasiotis, the hairy-eared rhinoceros. Geo graphical range nearly the same as that of the Javan rhinoceros, but it does extend into Bengal.
(c) Atelodus, with two well-marked spe cies, peculiar to Africa. Incisors rudi mentary or wanting, well-developed an terior and posterior horns in close contact; skin without definite permanent folds. R. bicornis, the common two-horned rhino ceros, is the smaller, and has a pointed prehensile lip. It ranges from Abyssinia to Cape Colony, but the progress of civi lization and the attacks of sportsmen are rapidly reducing its numbers. Two va
rieties are said to exist, R. bicornis major and R. bicornis minor. Specimens in which the posterior horn has attained a length as great as or greater than the anterior have also been separated under the specific name of R. keitloa, but with scarcely sufficient reason. R. sinus, Bur chell's, the square-mouthed,or white rhino ceros, has a square truncated lip, browses on grasses and frequents open country. It is the largest of the family, an adult male standing over six feet at the shoul der. The epithet white is a misnomer, for the animal is a dingy slate-color. A local variety in which the horn has a forward rake is sometimes described as R. oswellii.
(2) Any individual of the genus rhino ceros. The rhinoceros is the largest and most powerful terrestrial mammal, ex cept the elephant, to which, as well as to the hippopotamus and tapir, it is al lied. They are of low intelligence, and usually harmless, but when provoked they display considerable ferocity, and, though apparently so clumsily formed, can run with great speed. Only one is produced at a birth. The flesh is sometimes used for food; in the East Indies, the skin, which is said to be bullet-proof at short distances, is used for shields, and in South Africa it is made into whips. R. pachygnathus, from the Miocene of Greece, was apparently intermediate be tween R. bicornis and R. siinus. Four species, all bicorn, formerly inhabited Britain: R. tichorhinus, the woolly rhi noceros, from the brick-earths of the Thames valley; R. hemitxchus (Falc., lep torhinus, Owen), R. megarhinus (lepto rhinus, Cuvier and Falc.), and R. !ruscus, of Pliocene age. The one-horned Indian type was well represented (R. sivalensis, R. palxindicus) in the Pleistocene of the sub-Himalayan region. R. schleirma cheri, of the late European Miocenes, pos sessed incisors and was bicorn.