234 RHINOCEROTID^. 



seen of tin''. specieS; of wliich there were no specimens in the Museum 

 of the Asiatic Society at the time when he wrote his Memoir on this 

 group. 



813. Rhinoceros sondaicus. 



Sol. Muller. — Blyth, Cat. p. 137. — R. javanicvs, F, Cuvier, 

 Mammif., pL 85-8G. — Horsfield, Zooh Res. Java, pi. 



The Lesser Indian Rrinoceros. 



Descr. — Much smaller than the preceding ; with one horn ; two large 

 incisors in each jaw; folds in the skin less prominent and fewer ; hide 

 covered with square angular tubercles, much smaller than those of 

 R. indicus. 



Length 7 to 8 feet; height ^ to 3f. 



As in the last, there is a short and broad type of skull, and a narrov/ 

 type, the broad type being the kind found in our province. Length of 

 the skull of one If foot ; height of condyle of lower jaw 9 inches. The 

 fold at the setting on of the head, so prominent in Indicus, is at most 

 but indicated in Sondaicus. 



The Lesser Rhinoceros is found at present in the Bengal Sunderbuns, 

 and a very few individuals are stated to occur in the forest tract along 

 the Mahanuddy rivei', and extending northwards towards Midnapore ; 

 and also on the northern edge of the Rajmahal hills near the Ganges. 

 It occurs also more abundantly in Burmah, and thence through the 

 Malayan peninsula to Java and Borneo. Several have been killed 

 quite recently within a few miles of Calcutta. 



One of these species formerly existed on the banks of the Indus, 

 where it was hunted by the Emperor Baber. Individuals of this species 

 are not unfrequently taken about the country as a show. 



The only other Asiatic rhinoceros is the two-horned one, Rhinoceros 

 stionatranus, which has been shot as high as north latitude 23° or so, near 

 Sandoway, and is suspected by Blyth to extend as far north as Assam. 

 Though with two horns, it is quite of the same type as the one-horned 

 species, having strong incisors, and not like the African two-hoi-ned species, 

 which have deciduous incisors. It is the most common rhinoceros in 

 the Indo-Chinese territories, extending to Sumatra only among the 

 islands. It appears from information received by Blyth, that the horns 



