 Reference Base  Nashoernern auf der Spur: Leben und uberleben einer stark... |
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Neuschulz, N.; Meister, J., 1998. Nashoernern auf der Spur: Leben und uberleben einer stark bedrohten Tierfamilie. Erfurt, Verein der Zooparkfreunde in Erfurt e.V., pp. 1-52
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Morphology - Horn |
| Species: |
All Rhino Species |
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The characteristic of a rhino is the horn on the nose. There are one or two horns, depending on the species. The horns of the recent rhinos are no bones surrounded by horn which are stuck to the skull. They are pure horngrowths, which are attached to the skullbones through numerous strings of connectove tissue, and the horns can even be moved a little bit.
The general opinion that the rhino horn is made up of hairs which are glued to each other, is wrong. Hairs and the horn cones are similar but not identical. The hoofs of horses and the claws of pigs can be compared with the rhino horn, they are the same in general composition. The only difference is that the hoofs and claws have much thinner horncones (Horns?ulchen) and much more inter-horn-substance. [Also illustration of horn under electron microscope, p.18).
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