OTIÏTOCEROS- BICIOÎlïTîS .
(MAmmalia. -Plate. 2) •
RH IN O C ERO S B IC O R N IS .—L i n .
M a m m a l i a .— P l a t e II.—( F e m a l e a n d Y o u n g .)
R. pallide flavo-brunneus, comubus longitudine inasqualibus; collo ad caput sulco circumdato; oculis
brunneis.
Longitudo 10 ped. 11. unc.
R hinoceros Africanus, Cuv. Reg. Animal.
C o l o u r .'—Pale yellowish brown, with tints of purple upon the sides of the
head and the muzzle ; the groins flesh-coloured; eyes dark brown; the horns
livid brown, clouded with green; the hair on the tip of the tail and the
margins of the ears deep black.
F o r m , &c.—-Head rather deep in proportion to its length, which gives it
an appearance of clumsiness beyond either of the other South African
species; the anterior horn directly over the extremity of the nose, the first
half nearly perpendicular, the last half slightly curved backwards; the posterior
horn conical, and often exhibiting an appearance as if the point of a
smaller sized cone had been fixed upon the section of a larger one, which
observation to a certain extent might also be applied to the front horn;
towards their bases both are rough, and more or less distinctly fibrous;
towards the points hard, smooth, and finely polished. Eyes small; the skin
surrounding them as well as that in front of the ears and on the muzzle and
the upper and lower lips, deeply cut by narrow wrinkles; the extremity of
the upper lip scarcely produced. The neck is thick, short, and at its junction
with the head encircled by a deep furrow formed in the skin; the shoulder
with a rudimentary hunch ; the body round and heavy ; limbs rather shorter in
proportion than in R . Keitloa. Tail flattened towards the extremity, elsewhere
somewhat cylindrical; the upper and lower edges near the tip fringed with
thick wiry hair. The surface of the skin rather rougher than in the species
last described, owing to its being intersected by a greater number of wrinkles.
DIMENSIONS.
Feet. Inches. , F“ ‘- Inches.
Length from nose to root of tail ....... 10 11 Length of anterior horn..... ................... 1 7
Height at the shoulder ........................ 4 , 1 0 \ ■ of posterior horn .................... 0
The relative lengths of the horns vary a little in different individuals, but
the hindermost one in both sexes is invariably much the shortest, and in