 Reference Base  The game animals of India, Burma, and Tibet, being a new ... |
|
Lydekker, R., 1907. The game animals of India, Burma, and Tibet, being a new and revised edition of 'The great and small game of India, Burma, and Tibet'. London, Rowland Ward, pp. i-xv, 1-409
|
|
|
|
| |
| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Taxonomy |
| Species: |
Sumatran Rhino |
 |
|
Although possessed of two horns, the Sumatran rhinoceros resembles its Asiatic brethren in having teeth in the front of the jaw, as well as by its folded skin, and has therefore nothing to do with the African representatives of the family. As compared with the other Asiatic species (exclusive of the still unknown Singpho rhinoceros), the presence of an additional horn, coupled with the fact that it has only a single pair of lower front teeth (the small central pair occurring between the tusks in the other two species being absent), afford ample grounds for regarding this rhinoceros as the representative of a group by itself; and it is noteworthy that an extinct rhinoceros (R. hundsheimensis) from the continent of Europe appears to be another member of the same group of the genus.
To distinguish the present species from all its relatives, it is sufficient to state that it is the only named living rhinoceros with two horns and a folded skin ; but since it is an animal by no means familiar to most sportsmen, it is advisable to enter somewhat into details. In the first place, this species is the smallest of living rhinoceroses, as it is also the most hairy, its usual height at the shoulder not being more than 4 to 4 ? feet, and the length from the tip of the muzzle to the root of the tail only about 8 feet. Some female specimens even fall short of the foregoing dimensions, an old individual from the Malay Peninsula being only 3 feet 8 inches at the withers. The weight has been estimated at a couple of thousand pounds.
As though suggestive of a transition towards the smooth-skinned rhinoceroses of Africa, the. folds in the skin of the present species are much less pronounced than in the other Asiatic kinds; and of the three main folds, only one, namely, that situated behind the shoulder, is continued across the back. In structure, the outer surface of the skin is finely granular; and its colour, which varies from earthy-brown to almost black, is. likewise different from that of either of the onehorned species. Hair grows sparsely all over the head and body, but attains its maximum development on the ears and the tail; its colour varying from brown to black. At their bases the two horns are separated from one another by a considerable interval; and although in captive individuals they are generally much worn down, when fully developed they are slender for the greater part of their length, the front one curving backwards in an elegant sweep, and attaining very considerable size. The longest known specimen of the front horn is in the British Museum, and has a length of 32 ? inches, with a basal girth of 17 3/8 inches ; a second specimen in the same collection measuring 27 1/8 inches in length, and 17 7/8 in circumference.
|
|
|
File available
details
Original text on this topic: