Zumpt, F., 1964. Parasites of the white and black rhinoceroses. Lammergeyer 3 (1): 59-70, figs. 1-12
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Taxonomy |
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All Rhino Species |
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Relationship to tapir, horse, elephant. The Rhinocerotidae are, according to the mammalogist, related to the Equidae (horses, zebras, donkeys), and the Tapiridae (tapirs). A relationship between the Tapiridae and the Rhinocerotidae is not so surprising, but one between the latter family and the Equidae is less obvious. The mammalogist has anatomical reasons for his classification, but the parasitologist is also able to provide him with facts which allow the conclusion that he is correct in uniting the Rhinocerotidae with the Equidae in the order Perissodactyla. However, some groups of parasitic Nematoda seem to reveal a relationship between the Rhinocerotidae and the Elephantidae. This idea is not so unrealistic to the layman, but it poses some problems to the scientist who bases his conclusions on anatomical and palaeontological data.
In the introductory paragraphs I mentioned that among the worm parasites several genera have members parasitizing rhinoceroses and elephants, but not equids. This puzzling finding may perhaps be explained by ecological factors. Rhinoceroses and elephants have the habit of wallowing in mud, and the worms concerned may spend a certain period of their life-history in mud.
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Parasites of the white and black rhinoceroses
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