Perissodactyla is an order of ungulates. The order includes about 17 living species divided into three families: Equidae, Rhinocerotidae (rhinoceroses), and Tapiridae (tapirs). They typically have reduced the weight-bearing toes to three or one of the five original toes, though tapirs retain four toes on their front feet. The nonweight-bearing toes are either present, absent, vestigial, or positioned posteriorly. By contrast, artiodactyls bear most of their weight equally on four or two of the five toes: their third and fourth toes. Another difference between the two is that perissodactyls digest plant cellulose in their intestines, rather than in one or more stomach chambers as artiodactyls, with the exception of Suina, do.
The Javan rhinoceros, Javan rhino, Sunda rhinoceros or lesser one-horned rhinoceros is a critically endangered member of the genus Rhinoceros, of the rhinoceros family, Rhinocerotidae, and one of the five remaining extant rhinoceros species across South Asia and Africa. The Javan rhinoceros is one of the smallest rhinoceros species, along with the Sumatran, or "hairy", rhinoceros. They are superficially similar to Indian rhinos, as they have plate-like, "armored" protective skin folds, but are slightly smaller in size, at just 3.1–3.2 m (10–10 ft) long and 1.4–1.7 m (4.6–5.6 ft) tall, on average. The heaviest specimens weigh around 2,300 kg/2.3 tonnes, similar to a black rhinoceros. However, unlike the long and potentially lethal horns of the black or white rhinoceroses of Africa, the Javan species' single, somewhat blunted horn is usually shorter than 25 cm (9.8 in).
The black rhinoceros, black rhino or hook-lipped rhinoceros is a species of rhinoceros, native to eastern Africa and southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Although the species is referred to as black, its colours vary from brown to grey. It is the only extant species of the genus Diceros.
The Sumatran rhinoceros also known as the hairy rhinoceros, Asiatic one-horned rhinoceros, Asian one-horned rhinoceros or Sumatran rhino for short is a rare member of the family Rhinocerotidae and one of five extant species of rhinoceros; it is the only extant species of the genus Dicerorhinus. It is the smallest rhinoceros, although it is still a large mammal; it stands 112–145 cm (44–57 in) high at the shoulder, with a head-and-body length of 2.36–3.18 m and a tail of 35–70 cm (14–28 in). The weight is reported to range from 500–1,000 kg (1,100–2,200 lb), averaging 700–800 kg (1,540–1,760 lb). Like both African species, it has two horns; the larger is the nasal horn, typically 15–25 cm (5.9–9.8 in), while the other horn is typically a stub. A coat of reddish-brown hair covers most of the Sumatran rhino's body.
A rhinoceros, commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae; it can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species of the superfamily Rhinocerotoidea. Two of the extant species are native to Africa, and three to South and Southeast Asia.
The Indian rhinoceros, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros, great Indian rhinoceros, or Indian rhino for short, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is the second largest extant species of rhinoceros, with adult males weighing 2.07–2.2 tonnes and adult females 1.6 tonnes. The skin is thick and is grey-brown in colour with pinkish skin folds. They have a single horn on their snout that grows to a maximum of 57.2 cm (22.5 in). Their upper legs and shoulders are covered in wart-like bumps. They are nearly hairless, aside from the eyelashes, ear fringes and tail brush.
The white rhinoceros, white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros is the largest extant species of rhinoceros. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species. The white rhinoceros consists of two subspecies: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 16,803 wild-living animals, and the much rarer northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies has very few remaining individuals, with only two confirmed left in 2018. Sudan, the world's last known male northern white rhinoceros, died in Kenya on 19 March 2018 at age 45.
Rhinoceros is a genus comprising one-horned rhinoceroses. This scientific name was proposed by Swedish taxonomist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The genus contains two species, the Indian rhinoceros and the Javan rhinoceros. Although both members are threatened, the Javan rhinoceros is one of the most endangered large mammals in the world with only 60 individuals surviving in Java (Indonesia). The word 'rhinoceros' is of Greek origin meaning "nose-horn".
The Javan tiger was a Panthera tigris sondaica population native to the Indonesian island of Java. It was one of the three tiger populations that colonized the Sunda Islands during the last glacial period 110,000–12,000 years ago. It used to inhabit most of Java, but its natural habitat decreased continuously due to conversion for agricultural land use and infrastructure. By 1940, it had retreated to remote montane and forested areas. Since no evidence of a Javan tiger was found during several studies in the 1980s and 1990s, it was assessed as being extinct in 2008.
Paraceratherium is an extinct genus of hornless rhinocerotoids belonging to the family Paraceratheriidae. It is one of the largest terrestrial mammals that has ever existed and lived from the early to late Oligocene epoch. The first fossils were discovered in what is now Pakistan, and remains have been found across Eurasia between China and the Balkans. Paraceratherium means "near the hornless beast", in reference to Aceratherium, the genus in which the type species P. bugtiense was originally placed.
Alfred Duvaucel was a French naturalist and explorer. He was the stepson of Georges Cuvier.
Megacerops is an extinct genus of the prehistoric odd-toed ungulate family Brontotheriidae, an extinct group of rhinoceros-like browsers related to horses. It was endemic to North America during the Late Eocene epoch, existing for approximately 4.1 million years.
The western black rhinoceros or West African black rhinoceros is an extinct subspecies of the black rhinoceros. It was declared extinct by the IUCN in 2011. The western black rhinoceros was believed to have been genetically different from other rhino subspecies. It was once widespread in the savanna of sub-Saharan Africa, but its numbers declined due to poaching. The western black rhinoceros resided primarily in Cameroon, but surveys since 2006 have failed to locate any individuals.
The south-western black rhinoceros is a subspecies of the black rhinoceros, living in southwestern Africa. It is currently listed as near threatened by the IUCN. The biggest threat towards the subspecies is illegal poaching.
Paulus Edward Pieris Deraniyagala (1900–1976) was a Sri Lankan paleontologist, zoologist, and artist.
Brontotheriidae is a family of extinct mammals belonging to the order Perissodactyla, the order that includes horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs. Superficially, they looked rather like rhinos with some developing bony nose horns, and were some of the earliest mammals to have evolved large body sizes. They lived around 56–34 million years ago, until the very close of the Eocene. Brontotheres had a Holarctic distribution, with the exception of Western Europe: they occupied North America, Asia, and Eastern Europe. They were the first fossilized mammals to be discovered west of the Mississippi, and were first discovered in South Dakota.
The southern white rhinoceros or southern white rhino is one of the two subspecies of the white rhinoceros. It is the most common and widespread subspecies of rhinoceros.
The Bornean rhinoceros, also known as the eastern Sumatran rhinoceros or eastern hairy rhinoceros, is one of three subspecies of Sumatran rhinoceros. The subspecies was feared to be functionally extinct, with only one individual, a female named Pahu, surviving in captivity, and held in the state of Sabah. In April 2015, the Malaysian government declared the Bornean rhinoceros to be extinct in the wild in the Malaysian portion of Borneo. However, in March 2016, a young female rhino was captured in East Kalimantan, providing evidence of their continued existence. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies the subspecies as critically endangered.
The Vietnamese Javan rhinoceros, also known as the Indo-Chinese Javan rhinoceros, is an extinct subspecies of the Javan rhinoceros that formerly lived in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam. The subspecific term annamiticus derives from the Annamite name of the Indochinese Mountains in Indochina, part of the historical distribution of the subspecies.
