404 UNGULATA 



(as in Fig. 167), the crotchet and combing-plate do not completely 

 join, although the fossette is distinctly indicated. The first upper 

 premolar may occasionally be preceded by a milk-tooth. The Rhino- 

 ceroses differ from the Horses and agree with the Tapirs in the 

 direction of the caecum. 



The living species of Rhinoceros are all animals of large size, but of 

 little intelligence, generally timid in disposition, though ferocious when 

 attacked and brought to bay, using the nasal horns as weapons, by 

 which they strike and toss their assailant. Their sight is dull, but 

 their hearing and scent are remarkably acute. They feed on herbage, 

 shrubs, and leaves of trees, and, like so many other large animals 

 which inhabit hot countries, sleep the greater part of the day, being 

 most active in the cool of the evening or even during the night. 

 They are fond of bathing and wallowing in water or mud. None 

 of the species have been domesticated. Animals of the group have 

 existed in both the Old and New Worlds since the latter part of 

 the Eocene period. In America they all became extinct before the 

 end of the Pliocene period. In the Old World their distribution 

 has become greatly restricted, and they are no longer found in 

 Europe and North Asia, but only in Africa and portions of the 

 Indian and Indo-Malayan regions. 



Existing Species. The existing (as well as many of the extinct) 

 species of Rhinoceroses naturally divide into three groups, which are 

 regarded by some zoologists as of generic value. 



Rhinocerotic, or Typical Group. The adults with a single large 

 compressed incisor above on each side, and occasionally a small lateral 

 one; below, a very small incisor and a very large, procumbent, 

 pointed canine. Nasal bones pointed in front. A single nasal 

 horn. Skin very thick, and raised into strong, definitely arranged 

 ridges or folds. 



There are two well-marked species of one-horned Rhinoceroses. 

 (1) The Indian Rhinoceros, R. unicornis (Fig. 169) of Linnaeus, 1 the 

 largest and best known, from being the most frequently exhibited 

 alive in England, is at present only met with in a wild state in the 

 terai region of Nipal and Bhutan, and in the upper valley of the 

 Brahmaputra or province of Assam, though it formerly had a wider 

 range. The first Rhinoceros seen alive in Europe since the time 

 when these animals, in common with nearly all the large remark- 

 able beasts of both Africa and Asia, were exhibited in the Roman 



1 Many authors use Cuvier's name, E. indicus, in preference to this, on the 

 ground that there are more than one species with one horn, forgetting that the 

 name substituted is equally inconvenient, as more than one species live in India. 

 The fact of a specific name being applicable to several members of a genus is no 

 objection to its restriction to the first to which it was applied ; otherwise 

 changes in old and well-received names would constantly have to be made in 

 consequence of new discoveries. 



