The Sumatran Rhinoceros 



teeth in the front of the jaw, as well as by its folded 

 skin, and has therefore nothing to do with the African 

 representatives of the family. As compared with 

 the other Asiatic species (exclusive of the still 

 unknown Singpho rhinoceros), the presence of an 

 additional horn, coupled with the fact that it has only a 

 single pair of lower front teeth (the small central pair 

 occurring between the tusks in the other two species 

 being absent), afford ample grounds for regarding this 

 rhinoceros as the representative of a group by itself; 

 and it is noteworthy that an extinct rhinoceros (R. 

 hundsheimensis) from the continent of Europe appears 

 to be another member of the same group of the 

 o^enus. 



To distinguish the present species from all its 

 relatives, it is sufficient to state that it is the only 

 named living rhinoceros with two horns and a folded 

 skin ; but since it is an animal by no means familiar to 

 most sportsmen, it is advisable to enter somewhat into 

 details. In the first place, this species is the smallest of 

 living rhinoceroses, as it is also the -most hairy, its usual 

 height at the shoulder not being more than 4 to 

 4^ feet, and the length from the tip of the muzzle to 

 the root of the tail only about 8 feet. Some female 

 specimens even fall short of the foregoing dimensions, 

 an old individual from the Malay Peninsula being only 

 3 feet 8 inches at the withers. The weight has been 

 estimated at a couple of thousand pounds. 



As though suggestive of a transition towards the 

 smooth-skinned rhinoceroses of Africa, the folds in the 

 skin of the present species are much less pronounced 

 than in the other Asiatic kinds ; and of the three main 

 folds, only one, namely, that situated behind the 

 shoulder, is continued across the back. In structure, 

 the outer surface of the skin is finely granular ; and its 

 colour, which varies from earthy-brown to almost black, 

 is likewise different from that of either of the one- 

 horned species. Hair grows sparsely all over the head 



37 



