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Diceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758
Order: Perissodactyla > Family: Rhinocerotidae > Genus: Diceros > Species: Diceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758
Common Name: Black Rhinoceros [English]
Type Description
Syst. Nat., 10th ed., 1:56.
Type Locality
'Habitat in India', now identified as South Africa, Western Cape Prov., Cape of Good Hope.
Measurements
Head and body: 3000-3750 mm
Tail length: 700 mm
Weight: 996-1362 kg
Tail length: 700 mm
Weight: 996-1362 kg
Description
The animal can stand 150 cm at the shoulder and weigh up to 1800 kg. They usually have two horns, the front one larger than the rear. The rhino browses trees with a prehensile upper lip. They have poor vision but good hearing and sense of smell. Gestation is roughly 450 days. Because of demand for the horn of this unique animal, Tanzania's remaining rhinos are under extreme threat.
Distribution
With several different fragmented distribution areas, Diceros bicornis can be found favoring thicket and savanna edges with woody regrowth and numerous shrubs in the Cameroons, Chad and the Central African Republic, a small, isolated part of southern Sudan, throughout Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Rwanda down to South Africa and a small area along the west coast in northern Namibia. (Kingdon,,1997)
Key References
1. Kingdon, J. 1989. East African mammals: An atlas of evolution in Africa. (Large Mammals). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 3B:92-105.
2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 319-320.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2:1028-1030, 1034-1037.
4. Swynnerton, G. H., and R. W. Hayman. 1951. A checklist of the land mammals of the Tanganyika Territory and the Zanzibar Protectorate. Journal of the East African Natural History Society, 20(6):274-392.
2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 319-320.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2:1028-1030, 1034-1037.
4. Swynnerton, G. H., and R. W. Hayman. 1951. A checklist of the land mammals of the Tanganyika Territory and the Zanzibar Protectorate. Journal of the East African Natural History Society, 20(6):274-392.