Word Finder - rhinoceros

definition

Any of several large herbivorous pachyderms native to Africa and Asia of the five extant species in the three extant genera in the family Rhinocerotidae, with thick, gray skin and one or two horns on their snouts.

The hind-foot is very like that of a rhinoceros, having three welldeveloped toes.

Among the wild animals found in the mountains are elephant, rhinoceros, bison and various kinds of feathered game.

East Africa is rich in all kinds of antelope, and the elephant, rhinoceros and hippopotamus are still plentiful in parts.

A famous rhinoceros presented to the Zoological Society of London in July 1864 lived till December 1904.

The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), the largest of the Asiatic forms, is the most widely known, from its being exhibited in zoological gardens.

The first rhinoceros seen alive in Europe since the time when these animals, in common with nearly all the large remarkable beasts of both Africa and Asia, were exhibited in the Roman shows, was of this species.

The valley between Incisa and Arezzo contains accumulations of fossil bones of the deer, elephant, rhinoceros, mastodon, hippopotamus, bear, tiger, and more.

Rhinoceros Group. - The last section of the Perissodactyla is that of the Rhinocerotoidea, represented by the modern rhinoceroses and their extinct allies.

In stature they range from the size of a hare to that of a rhinoceros; and their horns vary in size and shape from the small and simple spikes of the oribi and duiker antlers to the enormous and variously shaped structures borne respectively by buffaloes, wild sheep and kudu and other large antelopes.

If the Vryheid district be excluded, the lion and rhinoceros may be added to this list; and the Vryheid district belongs geographically to Zululand.

The black rhinoceros is more rarely seen in menageries in Europe than either of the Asiatic species, but one lived in the gardens of the London Zoological Society from 1868-1891.

This group or genus is represented at the present day only by the Sumatran rhinoceros, Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus) sumatrensis, with its sub-species.

When either walking or running, the square-mouthed rhinoceros holds its head very low, its nose nearly touching the ground.

All these writers attacked the problem of descent, and published preliminary phylogenies of such animals as the horse, rhinoceros and elephant, which time has proved to be of only general value and not at all comparable to the exact phylogenetic series which were being established by invertebrate palaeontologists.

Lastly we have the white - Burchell's, or square-mouthedrhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) simus), the largest of the five, and differing from the other species in having a square truncated upper lip. In conformity with the structure of the mouth, this species lives entirely by browsing on grass, and is therefore more partial to open countries or districts where there are broad grassy valleys between the tracts of bush.

Their sight is very bad; but they are quick of hearing, and their scent is very keen; they are, too, often accompanied by rhinoceros birds, which, by running about their heads, flapping their wings, and screeching at the same time, frequently give them notice of the approach of danger.

Similarly, in the Asiatic islands are found the great mammals of the continent - the elephant, tiger, rhinoceros, anthropoid ape, &c., which are wanting in the Australian region, with which the eastern part of the archipelago is associated.

The forest regions of Cochin-China harbour the tiger, panther, leopard, tiger-cat, ichneumon, wild boar, deer, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant, as well as many varieties of monkeys and rats.

The Asiatic elephant; the seladang, a bison of a larger type than the Indian gaur; two varieties of rhinoceros; the honey bear (bruang), the tapir, the sambhur (rusa); the speckled deer (kijang), three varieties of mouse-deer (napoh, plandok and kanchil); the gibbon (ungka or wawa'), the siamang, another species of anthropoid ape, the brok or coco-nut monkey, so called because it is trained by the Malays to gather the nuts from the coco-nut trees, the lotong, kra, and at least twenty other kinds of monkey; the binturong (arctictis binturong), the lemur; the Asiatic tiger, the black panther, the leopard, the large wild cat (harimau akar), several varieties of jungle cat; the wild boar, the wild dog; the flying squirrel,.

Bears and rhinoceros are also found.

The valley between Incisa and Arezzo contains accumulations of fossil bones of the deer, elephant, rhinoceros, mastodon, hippopotamus, bear, tiger, &c.

In these forests are found the two-horned rhinoceros, the elephant, lion, panther, numerous apes and antelopes, while the crocodile and hippopotamus frequent the rivers.

The bones of the bear, horse, rhinoceros, lion, elephant, hyena and of many birds and small rodents were unearthed.

As proved by the discovery of fossil remains, musk-oxen ranged during the Pleistocene period over northern Siberia and the plains of Germany and France, their bones occurring in river-deposits along with those of the reindeer, mammoth, and woolly rhinoceros.

The genus is especially characteristic of the Middle and Upper Eocene, and some of the species attained the size of a rhinoceros.

Considerable difference of opinion exists with regard to the best classification of the family, some authorities including most of the species in the typical genus Rhinoceros, while others recognize quite a number of sub-families and still more genera.

The wild animals of Cambodia include the elephant, which is also domesticated, the rhinoceros, buffalo and some species of wild ox; also the tiger, panther, leopard and honey-bear.

When first entered by white men the Transvaal abounded in big game, the lion, leopard, elephant, giraffe, zebra and rhinoceros being very numerous, while the hippopotamus and crocodile were found in all the rivers.

The black rhinoceros (Rhinoceros (Diceros) bicornis) is the smaller of the two, and has a pointed prehensile upper lip. It ranges through the wooded and watered districts of Africa, from Abyssinia in the north to the Cape Colony, but its numbers are yearly diminishing, owing to the opening up of the country.

From Megatherium these animals, which rivalled the Indian rhinoceros in bulk, differ in the shape of their cheek-teeth; these (five above and four below) being much smaller, with an ovate section, and a cupped instead of a ridged crown-surface, thus resembling those of the true sloths.

The elephant, giraffe, lion, leopard, hyena, zebra, buffalo, gnu, quagga, kudu, eland and many other kinds of antelope roamed the plains; the rhinoceros, hippopotamus and crocodile lived in or frequented the rivers, and ostriches and baboons were numerous.

The tiger, leopard, fishing-cat, leopard-cat, and other species of wild-cat, as well as the honey-bear, large sloth-bear, and oneand two-horned rhinoceros, occur.

The stomach is formed upon much the same principle as that of the horse or rhinoceros, but is more elongated transversely and divided by a constriction into two cavities - a large left cul de sac, lined by a very dense white epithelium, and a right pyloric cavity, with a thick, soft, vascular lining.

The Sumatran rhinoceros differs from the Javanese in having two horns, like the African variety.

In many cases the swollen cell-walls serve as reserves, and sometimes the substance is so thickly deposited in strata as to obliterate the lumen, and the hyphae become nodular (Polyporus sacer, P. rhinoceros, Lentinus Woermanni).

The fauna includes the elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, giraffe, lion, leopard, cheetah, roan-antelope, hartebeeste, kudu and many other kinds of antelope, wart-hog, hares, quail, partridge, jungle-fowl, bustard and guinea-fowl.

In the rivers are rhinoceros, hippopotamus and crocodile.

Another of these titanotheroid forms is Diplacodon, from the Upper or Uinta Eocene; an animal the size of a rhinoceros, with the last two upper premolars molar-like.

Of the rhinoceros, three distinct varieties are enumerated, two with a single and one with a double horn.

The most familiar is the Rhinoceros unicornis, commonly found in the Brahmaputra valley.

The traditional antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be mythical.

The fauna includes the lion, leopard, cheetah, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, buffalo, zebra, kudu and many other kinds of antelope, wild pig, ostrich and crocodile.

The principal wild animals are elephants, rhinoceros, tigers, leopards, black bears and wild hog.

The fauna includes the horse, reindeer, mammoth, cave lion, rhinoceros, bear and urus.

The rhinoceros and the elephant both occur in the northern part of the island, though both are somewhat rare, and in this connexion it should be noted that the distribution of quadrupeds as between Borneo, Sumatra and the Malayan Peninsula is somewhat peculiar and seemingly somewhat capricious.

Many quadrupeds, such as the honey-bear and the rhinoceros, are common to all, but while the tiger is common both in the Malayan Peninsula and in Sumatra, it does not occur in Borneo; the elephant, so common in the peninsula, and found in Borneo, is unknown in Sumatra; and the orang-utan, so plentiful in parts of Borneo and parts of Sumatra, has never been discovered in the Malay Peninsula.

The recently extinct Siberian mammoth and woolly rhinoceros were closely allied to species now inhabiting tropical regions exclusively.

The rhinoceros is found in the denser parts of the forests and generally in swampy places.

Contrary to the usual belief, it is stated that, if caught young, the rhinoceros is easily tamed and becomes strongly attached to his keeper.

The wild animals are tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, leopards and deer.