Rhinoceros
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{{Taxobox
| name = Rhinoceros
| fossil_range = [[Eocene]] - Recent
| image = Rhino-216.jpg
| image_caption = [[Black Rhinoceros]], ''Diceros bicornis''
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordata]]
| classis = [[Mammal]]ia
| ordo = [[Perissodactyla]]
| familia = '''Rhinocerotidae'''
| familia_authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1821
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Extant Genera]]
| subdivision =
''[[Ceratotherium]]''<br>
''[[Dicerorhinus]]''<br>
''[[Diceros]]''<br>
''[[Rhinoceros (genus)|Rhinoceros]]''<br>
Extinct genera, see text
}}
The '''Rhinoceros''' ({{IPAEng|raɪˈnɒsərəs}}), often colloquially abbreviated '''rhino''', is the common name used to group five extant species of [[odd-toed ungulate]]s in the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Rhinocerotidae'''. Two of these species are native to [[Africa]] and three to southern [[Asia]]. Three of the five species—the ([[Javan Rhinoceros|Javan]], [[Sumatran Rhinoceros|Sumatran]] and [[Black Rhinoceros]])—are critically endangered. The [[Indian Rhinoceros|Indian]] is endangered, with fewer than 2700 individuals remaining in the wild. The [[White Rhinoceros|White]] is registered as Vulnerable, with roughly 14,500 remaining in the wild.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}<!-- ref with access date please -->
The rhinoceros family is characterised by large size (one of the few remaining [[megafauna]] alive today) with all of the species capable of reaching one [[ton]] or more in weight; [[herbivore|herbivorous]] diet; and a thick protective skin, 1.5–5 cm thick, formed from layers of [[collagen]] positioned in a [[lattice]] structure; relatively small brains for mammals this size (400–600g); and a large horn. They generally eat leafy material, although their ability to ferment food in their [[colon (anatomy)|hindgut]] allows them to subsist on more fibrous plant matter, if necessary. Unlike other [[perissodactyl]]s, the African species of rhinoceros lack teeth at the front of their mouths, relying instead on their powerful [[premolar]] and [[molar (tooth)|molar]] teeth to grind up plant food.<ref name=EoM>{{cite book |editor=Macdonald, D.|author= Owen-Smith, Norman|year=1984 |title= The Encyclopedia of Mammals|publisher= Facts on File|location=New York|pages= 490-495|isbn= 0-87196-871-1}}</ref> The [[dentition|dental formula]] varies greatly between species, but in general is: {{dentition2|0-1.0.3-4.3|0-2.0-1.3-4.3}}
The rhino is prized for its horn. The horns of a rhinoceros are made of [[keratin]], the same type of protein that makes up [[hair]] and [[Nail (anatomy)|fingernails]], but the horn is not itself made of hair as previously believed.[http://www.yesmag.bc.ca/Questions/rhino.html] Both African species and the [[Sumatran Rhinoceros]] have two horns, while the Indian and [[Javan Rhinoceros]] have a single horn. Rhinoceroses have acute hearing and sense of smell, but poor eyesight. Most live to be about 60 years old or more.
== Taxonomy and naming ==
The word "rhinoceros" (ῤινόκερως) is derived from the [[classical Greek|Greek]] words ῥινός ''rhinos'', meaning [[nose]], and κέρας ''keras'', meaning [[horn (anatomy)|horn]]; hence "horned-nose". The plural can be ''rhinoceros'', ''rhinoceri'', ''rhinoceroses'', or ''rhinoceroi''. The [[collective noun]] for a group of rhinoceros is "crash".
[[Image:Rhinosizes.png|right|thumb|Size comparison of extant rhinoceros species.]]
The five living species fall into three categories. The two African species, the [[White Rhinoceros]] and the [[Black Rhinoceros]], diverged during the early [[Pliocene]] (about 5 million years ago) but the Dicerotini group to which they belong originated in the middle [[Miocene]], about 14.2 million years ago. The main difference between black and white rhinos is the shape of their mouths. White rhinos have broad flat lips for grazing and black rhinos have long pointed lips for eating foliage. The name ''White'' Rhinoceros was actually a mistake, or rather a corruption of the word ''wijd'' ("wide" in [[Afrikaans]]), referring to their square lips.{{Fact|date=May 2008}}
White Rhinoceros are divided into Northern and Southern subspecies. There are two living Rhinocerotini species, the endangered [[Indian Rhinoceros]] and the critically endangered [[Javan Rhinoceros]], which diverged from one another about 10 million years ago. The critically endangered [[Sumatran Rhinoceros]] is the only surviving representative of the most primitive group, the Dicerorhinini, which emerged in the Miocene (about 20 million years ago).<ref>Rabinowitz, Alan (June 1995) "Helping a Species Go Extinct: The''<33 six.'' Sumatran Rhino in Borneo" ''Conservation Biology'' 9(3): pp. 482-488 </ref> The extinct [[Woolly Rhinoceros]] of northern Europe and Asia was also a member of this tribe.
<!-- Commenting out until determined if this is a photo of the hybrid [[Image:Rhino dvur kralove.jpg|thumb|right|Rhino from Dvur Kralove nad Labem]] -->
A subspecific hybrid white rhino (''Ceratotherium s. simum'' × ''C. s. cottoni'') was bred at the [[Dvůr Králové|Dvůr Králové Zoo]] (Zoological Garden Dvur Kralove nad Labem) in the [[Czech Republic]] in 1977. [[Hybrid (biology)#Interspecific hybrids|Interspecific hybridisation]] of Black and White Rhinoceros has also been confirmed.<ref name=Robinson>{{cite journal|first=Terry J.|last=Robinson|coauthors=V. Trifonov, I. Espie, E.H. Harley|year=2005|month=01|title=Interspecific hybridization in rhinoceroses: Confirmation of a Black × White rhinoceros hybrid by karyotype, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and microsatellite analysis|journal=Conservation Genetics |volume=6|issue=1|pages=141–145|doi=10.1007/s10592-004-7750-9|url=http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=article&doi=10.1007/s10592-004-7750-9
}}</ref>
All rhinoceros species have 82 [[chromosome]]s (diploid number, 2N, per cell), except the Black Rhinoceros, which has 84. This is the highest known chromosome number of all [[mammal]]s.
===Common Species===
==== White Rhinoceros ====
[[Image:Ceratotherium simum kwh 2.jpg|thumb|This [[White Rhinoceros]] is actually gray. The ''White'' in this species' name is from the Afrikaans word ''wyd'' which means ''wide''. It refers to the White Rhinoceros's wide lip compared to the Black Rhinoceros's pointed lip. The original meaning was subsequently lost in translation.]]
{{Main|White Rhinoceros}}
The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped Rhinoceros (''Ceratotherium simum'') is, behind the [[elephant]], probably the most massive remaining land animal in the world, along with the [[Indian Rhinoceros]] which is of comparable size and some male [[hippopotamus]]es. There are two [[subspecies]] of White Rhinos; [[as of 2005]], [[South Africa]] has the most of the first subspecies, the [[Southern White Rhinoceros]] (''Ceratotherium simum simum''). The population of Southern White Rhinos is about 14,500, making them the most abundant subspecies of rhino in the world. However, the population of the second subspecies, the critically-endangered [[Northern White Rhinoceros]] (''Ceratotherium simum cottoni''), is down to as few as four individuals in the wild, and as of June 2008 this sub-species could even be extinct.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4152951.ece Times Online | News | Environment | Poachers kill last four wild northern white rhinos]</ref>
The White Rhino has a massive body and large head, a short neck and broad chest. This rhino can exceed 3000 kg (6600 pounds), have a head-and-body length of 3.35-4.2 m (11-13.9 feet) and a shoulder height of 150-185 cm (60-73 inches). The record-sized White Rhinoceros was about 4500 kg (10,000 lb).<ref name=Now>{{cite web | url = http://196.36.153.129/cms/african-rhino/irie.aspx| title = African Rhinoceros | work = [[Safari Now]] | accessdate = 2008-03-19 }}</ref>. On its snout it has two [[horn (anatomy)|horns]]. The front horn is larger than the other horn and averages 89.9 cm (23.6 inches) in length and can reach 150 cm (59 inches). The White Rhinoceros also has a noticeable hump on the back of its neck which supports its large head. The colour of this animal ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. The only hair on them is on the ear fringes and tail bristles with little across the body. White Rhinos have the distinctive flat broad mouth which is used for grazing.
==== Black Rhinoceros ====
[[Image:Ostafrikanisches Spitzmaulnashorn.JPG|thumb|The [[Black Rhinoceros]] is similar in color to the [[White Rhinoceros]].]]
{{Main|Black Rhinoceros}}
The name Black Rhinoceros (''Diceros bicornis'') was chosen to distinguish this species from the [[White Rhinoceros]] (''Ceratotherium simum''). This can be confusing, as those two species are not really distinguishable by colour. There are four subspecies of black rhino: South-central (''Diceros bicornis minor''), the most numerous, which once ranged from central [[Tanzania]] south through [[Zambia]], [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Mozambique]] to northern and eastern [[South Africa]]; South-western (''Diceros bicornis bicornis'') which are better adapted to the arid and semi-arid savannas of [[Namibia]], southern [[Angola]], western [[Botswana]] and western South Africa; East African (''Diceros bicornis michaeli''), primarily in Tanzania; and West African (''Diceros bicornis longipes'') which was tentatively declared extinct in 2006.<ref name=Times>{{Cite news | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2260631,00.html | title = West African black rhino 'is extinct' | work = [[The Times]] | date = [[July 7]], [[2006]] | accessdate = 2007-10-09}} </ref>
An adult Black Rhinoceros stands 147–160 cm (57.9–63 inches) high at the shoulder and is 3.3-3.6 m (10.8–11.8 feet) in length.<ref name=WAZA>{{Cite web | url = http://www.waza.org/virtualzoo/factsheet.php?id=118-003-003-001&view=Rhinos&main=virtualzoo | title = Black Rhinoceros | work = [[World Association of Zoos and Aquariums]] | accessdate = 2007-10-09 | author = Dollinger, Peter and Silvia Geser }}</ref> An adult weighs from 800 to 1400 kg (1,760 to 3,080 lb), exceptionally to 1820 kg (4,000 lb), with the females being smaller than the males. Two [[horn (anatomy)|horns]] on the skull are made of [[keratin]] with the larger front horn typically 50 cm long, exceptionally up to 140 cm. Sometimes, a third smaller horn may develop. The Black Rhino is much smaller than the [[White Rhino]], and has a pointed mouth, which they use to grasp leaves and twigs when feeding.
==== Indian Rhinoceros ====
[[Image:Panzernashorn2004.jpg|thumb|An Indian rhinoceros and baby at the Nürnberger Zoo.]]
{{Main|Indian Rhinoceros}}
The Indian Rhinoceros or the Great One-horned Rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros Unicornis'') is found in [[Nepal]] and in [[Assam]], [[India]]. The rhino once inhabited areas from [[Pakistan]] to [[Burma]] and may have even roamed in [[China]]. But because of human influence their range has shrunk and now they only exist in small populations in northeastern [[India]] and [[Nepal]]. It is confined to the tall [[grasslands]] and [[forests]] in the foothills of the [[Himalayas]].
The Indian Rhinoceros has thick, silver-brown skin which creates huge folds all over its body. Its upper legs and shoulders are covered in [[wart]]-like bumps, and it has very little body hair. Fully grown males are larger than females in the wild, weighing from 2200–3000 kg (4,800–6,600 lb). Female Indian rhinos weigh about 1600 kg. The Indian Rhino is from 5.7–6.7 feet tall and can be up to 13 feet long. The record-sized specimen of this rhino was approximately 3500 kg. The Indian Rhino has a single [[horn (anatomy)|horn]] that reaches a length of between 20 and 101 cm. Its size is comparable to that of the White Rhino in Africa.
==== Javan Rhinoceros ====
{{Main|Javan Rhinoceros}}
The Javan Rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros sondaicus'') is one of the rarest and most endangered large [[mammal]]s anywhere in the world.<ref name="NYT Java">{{Cite news |title = Racing to Know the Rarest of Rhinos, Before It’s Too Late | author = Derr, Mark | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = [[July 11]], [[2006]] | accessdate = 2007-10-11 | url = ttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/11/science/11rhin.html }}</ref> According to [[2002]] estimates, only about 60 remain, in Java ([[Indonesia]]) and [[Vietnam]]. Of all the rhino species, the least is known of the Javan Rhino. These animals prefer dense lowland rain forest, tall grass and reed beds that are plentiful with large floodplains and mud wallows. Though once widespread throughout Asia, by the 1930s the rhinoceros was nearly hunted to extinction in [[India]], [[Burma]], [[Peninsular Malaysia]], and [[Sumatra]] for the supposed medical powers of its horn and blood.
Like the closely related larger [[Indian Rhinoceros]], the Javan rhinoceros has only a single horn. Its hairless, hazy gray skin fall into folds into the shoulder, back, and rump giving it an armored-like appearance. The Javan rhino's body length reaches up to 3.1-3.2 m (10-10.5 feet), including its head and a height of 1.5–1.7 m (4.9-5.6ft)tall. Adults are variously reported to weigh between 900–1,400 kg<ref>Species Endangered: [http://library.thinkquest.org/27257/javanrhino.html Javan Rhinoceros]</ref> or 1,360-2,000 kg.<ref name=rg>Rhino Guide: [http://www.therhinoguide.com/javan-rhinoceros.html Javan Rhinoceros]</ref> Males horns can reach 26 cm in length while in females they are knobs or no horn at all.<ref name=rg/>
==== Sumatran Rhinoceros ====
[[Image:Sumatran Rhinoceros - Rapunzel.jpg|thumb|A Sumatran rhinoceros at the [[Bronx Zoo]].]]
{{Main|Sumatran Rhinoceros}}
The Sumatran Rhinoceros (''Dicerorhinus sumatrensis'') is the smallest extant [[rhinoceros]] species, as well as the one with the most [[fur]], which allows it to survive at very high [[altitude]]s in [[Borneo]] and [[Sumatra]]. Due to habitat loss and poaching, its numbers have declined and it is one of the world's rarest mammals. About 275 Sumatran Rhinos are believed to remain.
Typically a mature Sumatran rhino stands about 130 cm (4.3ft) high at the shoulder, a body length of 240–315 cm (7.9ft - 10.3ft) and weighs around 700 kg (1543 lbs), though the largest individuals have been known to weigh as much as 1,000 kilograms. Like the [[African]] species, it has two horns, the largest is the front (25–79 cm) and the smaller being the second which is usually less than 10 cm long. The males have much larger horns than the females. Hair can range from dense (the most dense hair in young calves) to scarce. The color of these rhinos is reddish brown. The body is short and has stubby legs. They also have a prehensile lip.
==Evolution==
Rhinocerotoids diverged from other perissodactyls by the early Eocene. Fossils of ''[[Hyrachyus|Hyrachyus eximus]]'' found in North America date to this period. This small hornless ancestor resembled a tapir or small horse more than a rhino. Three families, sometimes grouped together as the [[superfamily]] Rhinocerotoidea, evolved in the late Eocene: [[Hyracodontidae]], [[Amynodontidae]] and Rhinocerotidae.
Hyracodontidae, also known as "running rhinos," showed adaptations for speed, and would have looked more like horses than modern rhinos. The smallest hyracodontids were dog-sized; the largest was ''[[Indricotherium]]'', believed to be one of the largest land mammals that ever existed. The hornless ''Indricotherium'' was almost seven meters high, ten meters long, and weighed as much as 15 tons. Like a giraffe, it ate leaves from trees. The Hyracodontids spread across Eurasia from the mid-Eocene to early Miocene.
The family Amynodontidae, also known as "aquatic rhinos," dispersed across North America and Eurasia, from the late Eocene to early Oligocene. The amynodontids were hippopotamus-like in their ecology and appearance, inhabiting rivers and lakes, and sharing many of the same adaptations to aquatic life as hippos.
[[Image:Teleoceras fossiger.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Teleoceras]]'', an extinct rhinoceros genus.]]
The family of all the modern rhinoceroses, the Rhinocerotidae, first appeared in the Late Eocene in Eurasia. The earliest members of Rhinocerotidae were small and numerous; at least 26 genera lived in Eurasia and North America until a wave of extinctions in the middle Oligocene wiped out most of the smaller species. Several independent lineages survived, however. [[Menoceras]], a pig-sized rhinoceros which had two horns side-by-side or the [[Teleoceras]] of North America which had short legs and a barrel chest and lived until about 5 million years ago. The last rhinos in America became extinct during the pliocene.
[[Image:Wooly rhinoceros.jpg|right|thumb|''[[Woolly Rhinoceros|Coelodonta]]'', the extinct woolly rhinoceros.]]
Modern rhinos are believed to have dispersed from Asia beginning in the Miocene. Two species survived the most recent period of glaciation and inhabited Europe as recently as 10,000 years ago. The [[Woolly Rhinoceros]] appeared in China around 1 million years ago and first arrived in Europe around 600,000 years ago and again 200,000 years ago, where alongside the [[Woolly Mammoth]], they became numerous but eventually were hunted to extinction by early humans. Another species of enormous rhino, ''[[Elasmotherium]]'', survived the last ice age. Also known as the giant Rhinoceros rhinoceros, ''Elasmotherium'' was two meters tall, five meters long and weighed around five tons, with a single enormous horn, hypsodont teeth and long legs for running.
Of the extant rhinoceros species, the [[Sumatran Rhino]] is the most archaic, first emerging more than 15 million years ago. The Sumatran Rhino was closely related to the Woolly Rhinoceros, but not to the other modern species. The Indian Rhino and Javan Rhino are closely related and from a more recent lineage of Asian rhino. The ancestors of early Indian and Javan rhino emerged 2-4 million years ago.<ref name=Lacombat>{{Cite book | author = Lacombat, Frédéric | year = 2005 | chapter = The evolution of the rhinoceros | pages = 46-49 | editor = Fulconis, R. | title = Save the rhinos: EAZA Rhino Campaign 2005/6 | location = London | publisher = [[European Association of Zoos and Aquaria]] }}</ref>
The origin of the two living African rhinos can be traced back to the late [[Miocene]] ({{Mya|11-5|mya}}) species ''Ceratotherium neumayri''. The lineages containing the living species diverged by the early [[Pliocene]] ({{Mya|5-3.5|mya}}), when ''Diceros praecox'', the likely ancestor of the [[Black Rhinoceros]], appears in the fossil record.<ref name=Geraads>{{cite journal |first=Denis |last=Geraads |year=2005 |title=Pliocene Rhinocerotidae (Mammalia) from Hadar and Dikika (Lower Awash, Ethiopia), and a revision of the origin of modern African rhinos |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=451–460 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0451:PRMFHA]2.0.CO;2 |url=http://www.vertpaleo.org/publications/jvp/25-451-461.cfm
}}</ref> The black and white rhinoceros remain so closely related that they can still mate and successfully produce offspring.<ref name=Robinson/>
[[Image:RhinoAtSDZ.jpg|thumb|thumb|200px|Rhino from the [[San Diego Zoo]]]]
[[Image:Indian rhinoceros.png|right|thumb|200px|Indian Rhino]]
[[Image:Sa-rhino-skin.jpg|thumb|200px|Rhino skin]]
[[Image:Black rhinos in crater.jpg|Black Rhinos in [[Ngorongoro Crater]]
|200px|thumb]]
[[Image:Rhinos at lake nakuru.jpg|thumb|200px|Rhinos at [[Lake Nakuru]]|200px|thumb]]
*'''Family Rhinocerotidae'''<ref name=Mikko>{{cite web | last = Haraamo | first = Mikko | title = Mikko's Phylogeny Archive entry on "Rhinoceratidae" | date = 2005-11-15 | url = http://www.fmnh.helsinki.fi/users/haaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/synapsida/eutheria/Perissodactyla/Rhinocerotidae/Rhinocerotidae.htm | accessdate = 2008-01-07 }}</ref>
**'''Subfamily Rhinocerotinae'''
***'''Tribe Aceratheriini'''
****[[extinction|†]]''[[Aceratherium]]''
****†''[[Acerorhinus]]''
****†''[[Alicornops]]''
****†''[[Aphelops]]''
****†''[[Chilotheridium]]''
****†''[[Chilotherium]]''
****†''[[Dromoceratherium]]''
****†''[[Floridaceras]]''
****†''[[Hoploaceratherium]]''
****†''[[Mesaceratherium]]''
****†''[[Peraceras]]''
****†''[[Plesiaceratherium]]''
****†''[[Proaceratherium]]''
****†''[[Sinorhinus]]''
****†''[[Subchilotherium]]''
***'''Tribe Teleoceratini'''
****†''[[Aprotodon]]''
****†''[[Brachydiceratherium]]''
****†''[[Brachypodella]]''
****†''[[Brachypotherium]]''
****†''[[Diaceratherium]]''
****†''[[Prosantorhinus]]''
****†''[[Shennongtherium]]''
****†''[[Teleoceras]]''
***'''Tribe Rhinocerotini'''
****†''[[Gaindatherium]]''
****''[[Rhinoceros (genus)|Rhinoceros]]'' - [[Indian Rhinoceros|Indian]] & [[Javan Rhinoceros]]
***'''Tribe Dicerorhinini'''
****†''[[Woolly Rhinoceros|Coelodonta]]'' - [[Woolly Rhinoceros]]
****''[[Dicerorhinus]]'' - [[Sumatran Rhinoceros]]
****†''[[Dihoplus]]''
****†''[[Lartetotherium]]''
****†''[[Stephanorhinus]]''
***'''Tribe Dicerotini'''
****''[[Ceratotherium]]'' - [[White Rhinoceros]]
****''[[Diceros]]'' - [[Black Rhinoceros]]
****†''[[Paradiceros]]''
**'''Subfamily Elasmotheriinae'''
***†''[[Gulfoceras]]''
***'''Tribe Diceratheriini'''
****†''[[Diceratherium]]''
****†''[[Subhyracodon]]''
***'''Tribe Elasmotheriini'''
****†''[[Bugtirhinus]]''
****†''[[Caementodon]]''
****†''[[Elasmotherium]]'' - [[Giant Rhinoceros]]
****†''[[Hispanotherium]]''
****†''[[Huaqingtherium]]''
****†''[[Iranotherium]]''
****†''[[Kenyatherium]]''
****†''[[Menoceras]]''
****†''[[Ougandatherium]]''
****†''[[Parelasmotherium]]''
****†''[[Procoelodonta]]''
****†''[[Sinotherium]]''
== Rhinoceros horns ==
[[Image:Nas-Horn.jpg|right|thumb|100px|A rhinoceros horn.]]The most obvious distinguishing characteristic of the rhinos is a large horn above the nose. Rhinoceros horns, unlike those of other horned mammals, consist of [[keratin]] only and lacks a bony core, such as bovine horns. Rhinoceros horns are used in [[traditional Chinese medicine|traditional Asian medicine]], and for dagger handles in [[Yemen]] and [[Oman]].
One repeated error is that [[rhinoceros]] horn in powdered form is used as an [[aphrodisiac]] in [[Traditional Chinese Medicine]]. It is, in fact, prescribed for fevers and convulsions.<ref>''Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition,'' by Dan Bensky, Steven Clavey, Erich Stoger, and Andrew Gamble. September 2004</ref> Discussions with TCM practitioners to reduce its use have met with mixed results since some TCM doctors see rhinoceros horn as a life-saving medicine of better quality than substitutes.<ref name=NewSci>{{Cite news | url = http://seahorse.fisheries.ubc.ca/pdfs/parryjones_and_vincent1998_newscientist.html | title = Can we tame wild medicine? To save a rare species, Western conservationists may have to make their peace with traditional Chinese medicine. | author = Parry-Jones, Rob and Amanda Vincent | work = [[New Scientist]] | volume = 157 | number = 2115 | date = [[January 3]], [[1998]]}}</ref> China has signed the [[CITES]] treaty however. To prevent poaching, in certain areas rhinos have been tranquilized and their horns removed. Many rhino range States have stockpiles of rhino horn, which needs to be carefully managed.<ref>Milledge, Simon. {{PDFlink|[http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals31.pdf Rhino Horn Stockpile]|1.33 [[Mebibyte|MiB]]<!-- application/pdf;charset=UTF-8, 1402580 bytes -->}}, TRAFFIC, 2005. Accessed [[2008-01-09]]</ref>
== Cultural depictions of rhinos ==
[[Image:Villa Del Casale Grande Chasse-2.jpg|thumb|left|A Rhinoceros depicted on a Roman [[mosaic]] in [[Villa Romana del Casale]], an archeological site near [[Piazza Armerina]] in [[Sicily]], [[Italy]]]]
[[Image:Rhinoceros Sculpture, Biological Sciences Building, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.JPG|thumb|right|Rhinoceros sculpture, Biological Sciences Building, [[Harvard University]], [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]].]] There are a number of legends about rhinoceroses stamping out [[fire]]. The story seems to have been common in [[Malaysia]], [[India]], and [[Burma]]. This type of rhinoceros even had a special name in [[Malay language|Malay]], ''badak api'', where ''badak'' means rhinoceros and ''api'' means fire. The animal would come when a fire is lit in the forest and stamp it out. Whether or not there is any truth to this has not yet been proven, as there has been no documented sighting of this phenomenon in recent history. This lack of evidence may stem from the fact that rhinoceros sightings overall in [[south-east Asia]] have become very rare, largely owing to widespread [[poaching]] of the critically endangered animal. This legend is featured prominently in the film ''[[The Gods Must Be Crazy]]'' as well as on an episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]''.
[[Image:Dürer - Rhinoceros.jpg|thumb|right|[[Dürer's Rhinoceros]], in a [[woodcut]] from 1515.]]
Although rhinos are [[herbivore]]s, in the novel ''[[James and the Giant Peach]]'' by author [[Roald Dahl]], the main character's parents are supposedly eaten by a rhinoceros that had escaped from the [[London Zoo]].
[[Albrecht Dürer]] created a famous [[woodcut]] of a rhinoceros in 1515, without ever seeing the animal depicted. As a result, [[Dürer's Rhinoceros]] is rather inaccurate.
In [[The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]], five [[black rhinoceros]] are seen fighting against the [[White Witch]].
In U.S. military aviation, one of the unofficial names for the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II fighter was "Rhino" and the Boeing (McDonnell Douglas) F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet carrier-based strike fighter for the U.S. Navy is also unofficially known as the "Rhino" to distinguish it from the legacy F/A-18 Hornet models when calling the ball in the carrier landing pattern so that the proper weight for the arresting gear can be set without a confusion between "Hornet" and "Super Hornet" over the radio, should the transmission be garbled.
== Footnotes ==
{{Reflist}}
== References ==
*{{Citation | last = Cerdeño | first = Esperanza | url = http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/3566/1/N3143.pdf | journal = Novitates | publisher = [[American Museum of Natural History]] | year = 1995 | title = Cladistic Analysis of the Family Rhinocerotidae (Perissodactyla) | issn = 0003-0082 | number = 3143}}
*Chapman, January 1999. ''The Art of Rhinoceros Horn Carving in China''. Christies Books, London. ISBN 0-903432-57-9.
* {{Citation | last = Emslie | first = R. and Brooks, M. | year = 1999 | title = African Rhino. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan | publisher = IUCN/SSC African Rhino Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK | isbn = 2831705029}}
* {{Citation | last = Foose | first = Thomas J. and van Strien, Nico | year = 1997 | title = Asian Rhinos – Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan | publisher = IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, and Cambridge, UK | isbn = 2-8317-0336-0}}
* {{Citation | url = http://www.oucom.ohiou.edu/dbms-witmer/Downloads/2006_Hieronymus-Witmer-Ridgely_rhino_horn.pdf | last = Hieronymus | first = Tobin L. | coauthors = Lawrence M. Witmer and Ryan C. Ridgely | journal = Journal of Morphology | title = Structure of White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) Horn Investigated by X-ray Computed Tomography and Histology With Implications for Growth and External Form | year = 2006 | volume = 267 | pages = 1172–1176 | doi = 10.1002/jmor.10465}}
*Laufer, Berthold. 1914. "History of the Rhinoceros." In: ''Chinese Clay Figures, Part I: Prolegomena on the History of Defence Armour''. Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, pp. 73-173.
==External links==
{{Wikispecies|Rhinocerotidae}}
{{commonscat|Rhinocerotidae}}
*[http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/species/ Rhino Species] & [http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/images/all/added/desc/1.php Rhino Images] page on the [http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/ Rhino Resource Center]
*[http://www.rhinos-irf.org International Rhino Foundation]
*[http://www.wildlifedirect.org/olpejetarhinos The Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya]
*[http://www.sosrhino.org/ SOS Rhino]
*[http://www.savetherhino.org/ Save the Rhino]
*[http://www.savefoundation.org.au/ The SAVE FOUNDATION of Australia]
*[http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/our_solutions/endangered_species/rhinoceros/index.cfm Rhinoceros entry] on [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] website.
* [http://www.sa-venues.com/wildlife/wildlife_rhino.htm Rhino photographs and information]
{{Perissodactyla}}
[[Category:Rhinoceroses|*]]
[[Category:Odd-toed ungulates]]
[[Category:Greek loanwords]]
[[af:Renoster]]
[[am:አውራሪስ]]
[[ar:وحيد القرن]]
[[frp:Rinocèros]]
[[bn:গন্ডার]]
[[bs:Nosorog]]
[[bg:Носорози]]
[[ca:Rinoceront]]
[[cs:Nosorožcovití]]
[[da:Næsehorn]]
[[de:Nashörner]]
[[el:Ρινόκερος]]
[[es:Rhinocerotidae]]
[[eo:Rinocero]]
[[fa:کرگدن]]
[[fr:Rhinocéros]]
[[gd:Sròn-adharcach]]
[[gl:Rhinocerotidae]]
[[ko:코뿔소]]
[[hy:Ռնգեղջյուր]]
[[hr:Nosorozi]]
[[io:Rinocero]]
[[id:Badak]]
[[is:Nashyrningur]]
[[it:Rhinocerotidae]]
[[he:קרנפיים]]
[[jv:Badhak]]
[[kl:Siissisoq]]
[[ka:მარტორქისებრნი]]
[[kg:Kifalu]]
[[ht:Rinoseròs]]
[[ku:Yek Qoç]]
[[la:Rhinoceros]]
[[lt:Raganosiniai]]
[[hu:Orrszarvúfélék]]
[[mr:गेंडा]]
[[nl:Neushoorns]]
[[ja:サイ]]
[[no:Neshorn]]
[[oc:Rhinocerotidae]]
[[pl:Nosorożce]]
[[pt:Rinoceronte]]
[[ro:Rinocer]]
[[ru:Носороги]]
[[simple:Rhinoceros]]
[[sl:Nosorogi]]
[[sr:Носорози]]
[[su:Badak]]
[[fi:Sarvikuonot]]
[[sv:Noshörningar]]
[[th:แรด]]
[[vi:Họ Tê giác]]
[[tg:Каркадан]]
[[tr:Gergedan]]
[[uk:Носороги]]
[[ur:گینڈا]]
[[zh-yue:犀牛]]
[[zh:犀牛]]