Rhinoceros

Rhinoceros
	Rhinoceros species of different genera; from top-left, clockwise: White rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Order:	Perissodactyla
Superfamily:	Rhinocerotoidea
Family:	Rhinocerotidae; Owen, 1845
Type genus
	Rhinoceros; Linnaeus, 1758
Extant and subfossil genera
	Ceratotherium; Dicerorhinus; Diceros; Rhinoceros; †Coelodonta; †Stephanorhinus; †Elasmotherium; Fossil genera, see text
	Rhinoceros range

A rhinoceros (rhino for short) is any animal in the family Rhinocerotidae. They are in the order Perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates. There are five living species. Two of these species are native to Africa. Three of these species are also native to Southern parts of Asia.

Taxonomy

Sizes of the different rhinoceros species.

Family Rhinocerotidae
- Black rhinoceros, Diceros bicornis
- White rhinoceros, or square-lipped rhinoceros Ceratotherium simum
- Javan rhinoceros, Rhinoceros sondaicus
- Indian rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis
- Sumatran rhinoceros, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis

Habitat

All five rhinoceros species are native to Africa or Asia. The two species in Africa are the White rhinoceros and the Black rhinoceros. The three species in Asia (including islands of Indonesia) are the Javan rhinoceros, Sumatran rhinoceros, and Indian rhinoceros.

Life

A white rhinoceros and its calf.

The rhinoceros is a herbivore. Its favourite food is plants, branches and bushes (if it is a browser species), or grass (if it is a grazer species).

Rhinoceroses have a large horn on the nose. Their horns are not like those of other horned mammals: the rhinoceros' horn is made of keratin packed together very tightly.

The rhinoceroses can weigh up to 2,000 kilograms (4,400 lb) and be up to 375 centimetres (12.30 ft) tall.

Rhinoceros and humans

Only the white rhinoceros is not in critical danger of becoming extinct. They are protected, but hunted mainly by poachers, for their horns. The horns are used in Asian medicine, similar to elephants and tigers, and for dagger handles in Yemen and Oman. Loss of habitat is also a danger to rhinos. Governments have made logging their habitat and poaching illegal.

RhinocerosRhinoceros And Humans Media

Skeleton of a woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) MHNT
The thick dermal armour of the rhinoceros evolved at the same time as shearing tusks.
Comparison of sizes between extant and extinct rhinos
Graph showing the number of rhinos poached annually in Africa (2008–2018)
Rhino bleeding after having its horn removed by a poacher
An Ethiopian shield from rhinoceros skin, 19th century
Weight of seized rhino horns, 2018
Sign in the National Museum of Scotland notifying visitors that the horn on display is a replica; this is because several rhino horns have been stolen from museums.
Head of rhinoceros