658 AFRICAN GAME ANIMALS 



The Somali race of the black rhinoceros differs chiefly 

 by being smaller than the typical form of British East 

 Africa and the region south of it. The skull shows a flatter 

 outline, the occipital crest being much less elevated than 

 in the larger race. The depth of this dorsal concavity 

 varies from i}{ inches to 2^ inches and averages a half 

 inch less than specimens from the highlands of British East 

 Africa. The body coloration is also slightly lighter, being 

 neutral gray, and the ears have a shorter fringe of hair at 

 their tips. Two specimens are in the National Museum, 

 shot by Paul J. Rainey on the low desert plains in the 

 vicinity of the Northern Guaso Nyiro. The skins of these 

 two specimens are neutral gray and distinguishable by their 

 lighter color and shorter growth of hair on the ear tips from 

 specimens from the Loita Plains of British East Africa. 

 Both of these specimens are females. The older and more 

 typical one showed the following measurements in the flesh: 

 head and body, 9 feet 8 inches; tail, 26 inches; hind foot, 

 17 inches; ear, 7^ inches. The skull has a length of 21^ 

 inches. A very old skull from Longaya Spring, with the teeth 

 worn down almost to the gums, has a length of 2o3<( inches, 

 which is the average length for the race. The horns do not 

 differ in shape or relative size from those of the typical race. 

 The length of the front one in the specimen of which the 

 flesh measurements have been given was 28 inches, while 

 another one has a horn length of 22 inches, but these are 

 both exceptionally long-horned specimens, and were the 

 longest seen among some thirty or forty observed in the 

 field. The Somaliland record given by Ward is 29^^ inches. 

 Besides the specimens examined at the National Museum, 

 from the lower course of the Northern Guaso Nyiro and 

 the region north of it toward Mount Marsabit, specimens 

 from Somaliland have been examined in the British Museum 

 and in Powell-Cotton's collection at Quex Park. 



