There
is a peril of the impacts of relationship, since the larger part of
people originate from around twenty people who, toward the start of the
twentieth century, survived a practically add up to eradication. Rhinos
repeat with numerous troubles in zoos.
The
white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) is a species of perisodactyl
mammal of the Rhinocerotidae family.2 It is the largest of the five
species of rhinoceroses that currently exist, the fourth largest
terrestrial animal and the fourth heaviest terrestrial mammal after the Three species of elephants. It can reach 4.2 meters in length and 1.85 meters in height. It is one of the two rhinoceros species that live in the African savannah, the other is the black rhinoceros. Both have two horns and are moderately threatened because of poaching.
White rhinoceroses are gray, a little lighter than black rhinoceros, but their name is not due to this, but a curious mistake. In
the 17th century, when the first Dutch settlers arrived in South
Africa, they called this animal wijde ( "wide") in reference to its
straight and wide lip, quite different from the beaked lip of the other
African rhinoceros. The British, who settled in Cape Town from 1806, mistakenly believed
that what the Dutch said was white, the English word for similar
pronunciation.
The
wide and straight lip is due to the fact that this animal feeds
preferably on grasses that it collects from the ground, whereas the
black rhinoceros does it of shrub vegetation. Thanks to this the two species of African rhinoceros, otherwise very similar in habits, can coexist in the same ecosystem. Mating does not occur at a specific time, and females give birth to a
single offspring every 4 or 5 years, when the previous one has matured.
The
rhinoceros horn is not a true horn like that of cows or that of bulls
when it does not grow from the skull, nor a tusk, like that of elephants
when it does not grow from the mouth. It
is rather a hardness in the area of the nose and is formed by keratin
the same material that forms our nails and hair.3 Thus, if the horn
breaks in a fight can get to regenerate, even growing 7 centimeters a
year.
characteristics
The
word "rhino" comes from the Greek terms rhino (nose) and
kera (horn), and literally means "horned nose" and refers to the
characteristic horns on the muzzle, which are also a valued trophy and
the main reason Of his hunting. Unlike
the horns of other species, such as antelope, rhinoceroses do not have a
bony nucleus, but are made of keratin, the same substance that forms
hairs and nails in other mammals. The two African species and the rhinoceros of Sumatra have two horns, while the Indian and the Java have only one.The
rhinoceros family is characterized by its large size, being of the few
species considered megafauna existing today, along with elephants and
hippos; All species may exceed at least one tonne weight. All are herbivores, and have a thick and resistant skin, between 1.5 and 5 cm thick, formed by superposed layers of collagen. They have relatively small brains for their body size (between 400 and 600 g). Although
they usually feed on leaves, their ability to ferment food in the colon
allows them to survive by consuming more woody plant matter, such as
roots and branches, if necessary. Unlike
other peridodactyls, African rhinoceros species do not have teeth in
the front of the mouth, using to chew a few powerful premolars and
molars to crush food of plant origin.2 The dental formula varies from
species to species.
Rhinoceroses have a keen sense of smell and a sensitive but very poor hearing. Their maximum life expectancy is about 60 years. The length of the head and body is 240 to 315 cm in the rhinoceros of Sumatra and 335 to 420 cm in the white rhinoceros. The weight, which is 800 kg in the rhinoceros of Sumatra, can reach
3,600 kg in the white rhinoceros considering it the second largest
terrestrial animal after the elephant.
All species are perisodactyla; That
is, they have a more developed central finger on each leg, which serves
as the main support, and two smaller fingers on the sides. That gives the traces the characteristic appearance of an ace of clover. In the case of the white rhinoceros and the Indian rhino, adult males
are much larger than females, but in the other males and females they
have a similar size.
Rhinos have poor vision, although they are able to distinguish a still person up to about 30 m away. The eyes are located on both sides of your head. His ear is very fine, and the ears are of tubular type, moving rapidly in the direction from which the sound comes. But its most developed sense is smell; The amount of olfactory tissue in the snout exceeds the size of the brain.
Feeding
All rhinos are herbivores and need a lot of food every day to maintain their great volume. They
can tolerate relatively high fiber foods in their diet, thanks to their
colon's ability to ferment and digest woody vegetable tissue, but
prefer more nutritious and supple parts when available. The
two African rhinoceros species have lost their front teeth, and
although Asian species retain incisors (and the Sumatran rhinoceros even
canines), these pieces have been adapted more to fight than to feed. However, each species has adapted to the consumption of one type of vegetable matter. The black rhinoceros has a prehensile upper lip that it uses to break the ends of the branches of woody plants. The white rhinoceros, on the other hand, has an elongated skull and wide lips that it uses to graze the short herbs. The Indian rhinoceros also has a prehensile upper lip, which it uses to obtain tall grasses and small shrubs. Both
the Java rhinoceros and the Sumatran rhino often knock down small trees
to eat their leaves and shoots, and all species except white include
some fruits in their diet. All rhinos drink almost daily, but in arid conditions they can survive for four or five days without drinking. The Indian rhinoceros spends long periods in the water, while African species often prefer to wallow in the mud. Although the water refreshes them, the mud protects them against the bites of flies and other insects.
Reproduction
White
rhinoceros and Indian females begin their sexual cycles around the age
of five, and their first offspring between six and eight years old. Black rhinoceros females, which are smaller, are fertile a year earlier. As
a rule, all species have only one calf per calving, although the
presence of two mammals has led to speculation about the possibility of
gestation of two calves in exceptional cases. The interval between successive procreations is at least twenty-two months, although it is usually between two and four years. The hatchlings are small at birth, weigh about 65 kg in the case of
the white and Indian rhinoceros and 40 kg in the black rhinoceros, and
can follow the step of their mothers three days after birth.
Males
have the ability to procreate between seven and eight years of age, but
do not usually reproduce at least until the age of ten. A
peculiarity of rhinoceroses is that the testicles do not descend into
the scrotum, and the penis, when retracted, is directed backwards. The females have two breasts located between the two hind legs. Births
occur in any month of the year, but in the case of African rhinos the
births occur in greater numbers between the end of the rainy season and
the mid-dry season.
Behavior
The rhinoceros is a solitary and territorial animal. As
a rule, there is only an association between a mother and her young
offspring, and adult males of all species are only temporarily
associated with females in the time of estrus. Among
the white rhinoceroses, and sometimes in the Indians, immature animals
form pairs, and sometimes constitute more numerous groups. The white rhinoceros is the most sociable of the five species, and
females without offspring sometimes meet and accept the company of one
or more immature animals, with the possibility of forming persistent
groups of up to seven individuals.
Both
males and females always move in the same zones or territories, varying
in size according to species and genus (9 to 15 km females of white and
Indian rhinoceros, 3 to 90 km of black rhinoceros), and Which mark olfactory form through their feces and their urine. The faeces are deposited and then dispersed to coces. When they patrol regions bordering on their territories, they urinate relatively often. In all species the territories of the females overlap extensively and there are no signs of territoriality among them. Although,
while white rhino females often have friendly contacts rubbing their
noses, those of the Indian rhinoceros usually respond aggressively to
any proximity. Males, however, tend to deal with any other male that invades their territory. In the same way, both the white and the Indian rhinoceros frequently
respond with aggressive attacks when they are disturbed, but very often
their burdens are nothing more than blind attacks intended to drive the
intruder away.
In their confrontations, the rhinos repeat the same gestures again and again until one of them surrenders. The animals facing each other squeeze the horns against each other and push themselves; They
do not usually carry one against another, as do other horned mammals,
since the combined mass of both would suffice to crush their skulls or
break their necks at the moment of impact. Once
the conflict is over, the dominant male proclaims his supremacy by
expelling a spray of pulverized urine while the subordinate male
retreats. The owner of a territory that is defeated stops marking it with urine
and spreading its excrement, and assumes the status of subordinate male.
The
longevity of rhinoceros varies from the thirty-two years of rhinoceros
of Sumatra to the forty-five years of the white and Indian rhinoceros,
although they can live until the sixty years or more.
Taxonomy
The following subspecies are :
- Northern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum cottoni)
- Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum)
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