io62 THE UNGULATES, OR HOOFED -MAMMALS 



furnished with a fringe of hair along the upper edge, while in some cases they are 

 rounded above, although in others more pointed. There is a considerable amount 

 of individual variation as to the length and amount of the fringe of hair on the 

 margins of the ears. The molar teeth of this rhinoceros are of the type of the 

 uppermost of the two represented on p. 1051 ; that is to say, they have comparatively- 

 low crowns, a well-marked buttress at their front outer angle, the middle valley not 

 divided into two moieties by a cross partition, and the surface of the crown when 

 worn raised into two distinct ridges. The latter feature shows that the jaws have a 

 somewhat champing, instead of a completely grinding action; and since we know 

 that this species feeds almost exclusively on twigs and leaves, it may be assumed 

 that molar teeth of this pattern always indicate a similar diet for their owners. 

 The horns are well developed in both sexes. 



As regards dimensions, in an adult female from Abyssinia described by Mr. 

 Blanford, the length from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail measured along 

 the curves was six feet nine inches, of which one foot nine and one-half inches was 

 occupied by the tail, and the height at the shoulder four feet eight and one-half 

 inches. These dimension are, however, exceeded by males, which, according to Sir 

 S. Baker, may stand from five feet six inches to five feet eight inches at the 

 shoulder. 



The proportions of the two horns to one another vary greatly, the front one be- 

 ing in some cases much longer than the hinder, while in others the two are nearly 

 or quite equal, and, more rarely, the second horn may be the longer of the two. 

 The native name boreli is applied to those individuals in which the second horn is 

 the shorter, while keitloa is restricted to such as have horns of equal length, or the 

 second longer than the first. Mr. Selous has shown that there is a complete transi- 

 tion from the one to the other type, and consequently that such differences cannot 

 have any specific value. 



In regard to the length attained by the horns of this species, it ap- 

 pears that in Abyssinia and other parts of Northeast Africa, from Sir S. 

 Baker's experience, the front horn rarely or never exceeds twenty-three or twenty- 

 four inches, but much larger dimensions are recorded in South and East-African 

 specimens. Thus examples of the front horn are described as measuring 44, 43, 41, 

 40 and 38^ inches in length; but with the exception of the last, in which its length 

 is 21 inches, in none of these examples are the dimensions of the second horn re- 

 corded. In one specimen the length of the first and second horns were respectively 

 31 and 19% inches, in another 28^ and 15^, in a third 28^ and 8^4, in a fourth 

 27 and i6*/ 2 , in a fifth 21 j and i&%, and in a sixth 14^ and 14% inches. The 

 front horn is generally nearly circular in section and slightly curved backward, 

 while the second is nearly straight, much compressed, and with its hinder edge often 

 sharper than the front one. Sir. J. Willoughby killed in East Africa an example 

 of this rhinoceros having a small rudimental third horn behind the normal pair. 

 Habits In Ab y ssinia Mr - Blanford states that this rhinoceros is confined to 



the lower elevations, not ascending above some five thousand feet. In 

 the valley of the Anseba he writes that "it inhabits the dense thickets on the banks 

 of the stream, which are intersected in all directions by the paths made by these 



