RHINOCEROS. 



RHIXOCEROa 



mart b* ranrdtd M a very moderate cater, and considering that it 

 |>|>Mii to M fastidious in the choice of iU food, it i fortunate for 

 iU comfort that it doe* not require more nourishment. Of the many 

 throb* which exut in the locality in which it reside*, few compara- 

 tively appear formed for it* choice, a* it is to be aeen approaching 

 many and leaving them again without either injuring a branch or 

 plucking a leaf." 



JWittetroi bitornii, female and young. (Smith.) 



R. Kriiloa (Smith) is of a pale brownish-yellow colour ; the two 

 hoins lubequal in length, the anterior one cylindrical, the posterior 

 one compressed ; anterior part of the upper lip produced and acumi- 

 nate. Length, body and head, 11 feet and H inches. Height 5 feet 

 Its figure nearly that of R. bicomit. 



Dr. Smith remarks that the only species yet known with which the 

 present could be confounded in the R. bicomit of authors. There are 

 however, he observes, many and marked differences between them, of 

 which the following are a few of the external and more palpable ones. 

 In R. Keitloa the two horns are of equal or nearly equal length ; in 

 R. Africa*** the posterior in neither sex is ever much beyond a third 

 of the length of the anterior horn ; the length of the head in pro- 

 portion to the depth is very different in the two. The neck of R. 

 Kriiloa is much longer than that of the other, and the position and 

 character of the cuticular furrows destined to facilitate the lateral 

 motion* of the head are very different. Besides these, Dr. Smith 

 state* that many other diagnostic characters might be instanced; 

 such a* the black mark on the inside of the thigh of the Keitloa, the 

 distinctly produced tip of the upper lip, and the comparatively few 

 wrinkle* on the snout and parts around the eyes. 



Hhinntrroi Kriiloa, male. (Smith.) 



TIT. Smith thinks that it may with propriety be inferred that the 

 KeiUoa has not, for manv year* at least, been in the habit of generally 

 extending iU rang* higher than about 26" 8. lat He remarks that 

 we have sufficient evidence that individual* of this species have 

 approached Latakoo, or rather the country some 60 mile* to the north 

 of it, in UM fact that Mr. Burchell, whose merit* u a traveller can 

 h b*t appreciated by those who follow him in the same field, is at 

 present in po**eanon of the horns of an individual which was killed 

 by hi* buntetn" Dr. Smith further state* that the native* at and 

 around Utakoo are only acquainted with two species, namely, Borili 

 (R. HeorW of authors), and Mohoohoo (R. nmtu, Burch.); and those 

 who were in the employ of the expedition declared, when they first 

 saw the Keitloa, that it wa* not an animal of their country ; and at 

 1 enlarged upon the point* in which it differed from Bonli. 



The food of this species consists of small shrubs, or the more 

 delicate branches of brushwood, in collecting which. Dr. Smith 

 observes, the prolongation of the anterior extremity of the upper lip 

 prove* a useful assistant 



R. timut (Burch.) is of a pale gray-brown colour, tinged with yellow- 

 brown ; margins of the ears towards the tips, and tail both above and 

 below at the extremity, clothed with *tiff black hair* ; mouth ox-like ; 

 two horns, the anterior one much the longest ; eye* yellowish-brown. 

 Length, body and bead, 12 feet 1 inch. Height, at the shoulder, 

 5 feet 7 inches. 



" Mohoohoo, the name of this species among the Bechuanas," says 

 Dr. Smith, " is considered by them to be one of the original animals 

 of their country, and to have issued from the same cave out of which 

 their own forefathers proceeded : in this respect they make a differ- 

 ence between it and Keitloa, with whose origin they do not profess to 

 be acquainted." 



Mr. Burchell, who added so much to our knowledge of the zoology 

 of Africa, found, when he was in Latakoo, this species common there ; 

 and the natives told Dr. Smith that it was not unfrequeutly found 

 even farther to the southward. The last-named author however tells 

 us that it has almost ceased to exist, even in the situations where its 

 discoverer met it ; and the Doctor observes that this ia accounted for 

 by the danger to which it is exposed being now much increased from 

 the general introduction of fire-arms among the Bechuanas. He also 

 remarks that the form of the mouth at once suggests the kind of food 

 upon which the animal probably subsists ; and an examination of the 

 contents of the stomach, principally grass, confirmed the inference. 

 " Localities abounding in grass are therefore the haunts of the Mohoo- 

 hoo, and to enjoy them throughout the year, he ia necessitated to 

 lead a more wandering life than the two species already figured." 



Rhinoceros timta. (Smith.) 



The above species ore those which are best known, although it is 

 not improbable that others exist, and this is the impression of Dr. 

 Smith. The following species are given in the ' Catalogue of the 

 Specimens of Mammalia' in the British Museum : 

 Family Mephantida. 

 Tribe R/iinocerina. 



1. Rhinoccrot unicornit, Linn., the Rhinoceros; R. Indicut, Cur.; 

 R. Atiaticiu, Blum. ; It. incrmis, Lesson. 



2. R. bicornit, the Qargatan, or lihinastcr ; 7?. Africaniu, Desm. ; /'. 

 Brucei and R. Oordonii, De Blainv. 



3. R. Ketloa, A. Smith ; Sloan's Rhinoceros. 



4. R. timut, Burchell's Rhinoceros ; R. Snrchelii, Dcsm. ; R. Camu, 

 Griffith. 



Fossil Rldnocerotet. 



The Fossil Rhinoceroses hitherto discovered may be divided into 

 three groups 1, those with a true or bony septum narium ; 2, those 

 without a bony septum ; and 3, those with incisor teeth. 



The greater portion of remains found in Northern and Central 

 Europe and Asia belong to the first group; those found in Italy 

 belong to the second. 



The skulls of the Rhinoceroses belonging to the first group exhibit 

 an essential difference when compared with those of the living species. 

 Those of the former are longer and narrower in proportion; the 

 width between the orbits is less; the bones of the nose are more 

 elongated; the disc on which the anterior horn was seated is an 

 oblong ellipse, whilst in R, bicomit it is a hemisphere. An analogous 

 elongation exists in the place where the second horn WHS situated, 

 whence Cuvicr concludes that the horns of the Rhinoceros with a 

 bony septum narium were very much compressed laterally. The 

 same great zoologist remarks that in R. bicomit or R. Africanni (Cape 

 Rhinoceros) the occipital crest is nearly over the occipital condyles, 

 and the posterior surface of the occiput is nearly perpendicular to 

 the axis of the head. In R. Jaramu this surface is inclined forwards, 

 which renders the distance from the nose to the crest shorter than 

 that from the nose to the condyle in a proportion of 19 to 25 ; and it 



