20 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 6l 



Literature. — Gibbons, A. H. (1904), Africa from south to north, Vol. 2, 

 p. 221 ; Powell-Cotton, P. H. G. (1907), Geographical Journal, Vol. 30, London, 

 PP- 371, 381; Churchill, W. S. (1908), My African journey, London, p. 186; 

 Stigand, C. H. (1909), The game of British East Africa, London, pp. 167, 280; 

 Dickinson, F. A. (1910), Lake Victoria to Khartoum with rifle and camera, 

 London, and New York, pp. 91, 274; Roosevelt, T. (1910), African game trails, 

 New York, pp. 394-437, and Scribner's Magazine, Vol. 48, No. 3, New York, 

 p. 257; Berger, A. (1910), In Afrikas Wildkammern als Forscher und Jager, 

 Berlin, 1910, pp. 358-398. 



The square-mouthed or white rhinoceros is a long-headed, .tall- 

 bodied animal with a flattened or truncate nose and a wide, square 

 mouth. The excessively long head distinguishes this species at once 

 from all other living forms. The ears are much longer and the feet 

 larger than in the black rhinoceros. One of the peculiarities of this 

 species is the prominent, rounded, fleshy hump upon the nape of the 

 neck just forward of the withers. This hump is purely a muscular 

 structure, and receives no support from the dorsal processes of the 

 cervical vertebras. One of the most obvious external differences of 

 this rhinoceros is the lack of heavy body folds in its skin. The only 

 evident folds are ; a transverse one over the elbow joint, which com- 

 pletely encircles the external surface of the limb, a short transverse 

 one on the nape immediately behind the ears, and a longer but less 

 well marked fold on the throat. The elbow fold is the most distinct 

 fold of the three, and is well marked in any body position. It is as 

 distinct a fold in calves as in adults. The neck folds depend somewhat 

 on the position of .the head, the nape fold disappearing almost com- 

 pletely when the head is lowered to the level of the feet. The throat 

 fold is affected similarly when the head is raised to the level of the 

 back. The sides of the body are smooth, being without the rib-like 

 folds so characteristic of the black rhinoceros. A further dermal 

 character concerns the front edge of the thigh which is greatly com- 

 pressed and stands out along the body as a thin, flattened ridge of 

 hide. This latter character and the three short body folds described, 

 are found in all the living species of rhinoceroses. Compared to the 

 enormous body folds of the Indian rhinoceros, however, the present 

 species appears to be quite devoid of folds. 



In size this species exceeds but slightly, if at all, the great Indian 

 single-horned species, and but little the black African species. 

 Measurements of the length and height of the Indian species given 

 by Lydekker 1 are scarcely inferior to authentic dimensions of the 

 largest South African specimens. Measurements of mounted skele- 



1 Great and Small Game of India, Burma and Tibet. 



