472 UNGULATES. 



Mr. Blanford considers that from 4 feet to 4£ feet will represent about the 

 average height at the shoulder. In the above-mentioned specimen the height at 

 the shoulder was 4 feet 4 inches, and the length from the tip of the snout to the 

 root of the tail 8 feet ; the weight of the animal being about 2000 lbs. On the 

 other hand, in an adult female from the Malay Peninsula, the shoulder-height was 

 only 3 feet 8 inches. There is also great variation in regard to the length of the 

 horns, the hinder one being in some cases reduced to an almost invisible knob. 

 Mr. E. Bartlett gives the following particulars of Bornean specimens. In one 

 example the front horn was 4| and the second 2 inches in length ; in a second, 

 while the front horn measured 5 inches, the hind one was a mere knob ; and in a 

 third, the front horn had a length of 19 inches with a girth of 16 inches, the 

 second horn being fairly developed, although not more than about 3 inches in 

 height. A single specimen of a front horn had a length of 11 inches, with a basal 

 girth of 11 J inches; but the maximum recorded length is upwards of 32 inches 

 along the curve. 



The molar teeth of this species are almost indistinguishable from 



Habits 



those of the Javan rhinoceros, and as its habits appear to be very 

 much the same as those of the latter, the diet of the two is probably also similar. 

 The Sumatran rhinoceros inhabits hilly forest-districts, and it has been observed 

 in Tenasserim at an elevation of four thousand feet above the sea. It is a good 

 swimmer, and is reported to have been seen swimming in the sea in the Mergui 

 Archipelago. Although shy and timid in the wild state, in captivity it soon 

 becomes tame. 



Mr. E. Bartlett states that in Borneo the dyaks are very partial to the flesh of 

 this species as an article of diet. And he adds that the kyans — a race very 

 distinct from the dyaks — procure the horns for barter, for which they receive a 

 high price from the Chinese, who import them to China for medicine. The horns 

 are ground into powder for some diseases, while others are cut into minute 

 fragments to carry about the person. The same writer further states that this 

 rhinoceros is becoming extremely rare in the province of Sarawak, on account 

 of the value set upon its horns, but in Central and North Borneo in the very old 

 jungle it is more plentiful. 



In 1872 a Sumatran rhinoceros, recently imported into London, gave birth to 

 a calf; and this event afforded Mr. A. D. Bartlett data for considering that the 

 period of gestation was a little over seven months. This however, as Mr. Blanford 

 points out, seems a very short period for such a large animal, and contrasts very 

 markedly with the length of time assigned by Hodgson to the great Indian 

 rhinoceros. 

 Allied Extinct No fossil species allied to the Sumatran rhinoceros has hitherto 



Species. been obtained from the Tertiary deposits of India, whence we may 

 conclude that the latter is probably a comparatively recent immigrant into North- 

 Eastern India. Schleiermacher's rhinoceros (R. schleiermacheri) of the Miocene 

 and lower Pliocene deposits of France and Germany appears, however, to have 

 been very closely allied to the Sumatran species; and thus affords, in common 

 with some other fossil mammals, evidence of an eastward migration of types 

 formerly inhabiting Western Europe. 







