THE WHITE RHINO

This mammal is an odd-toed ungulate, whose wild representatives are mostly confined to southern Africa. These animals faced extinction in the early 20^th century, but, today, their populations are “hanging in there,” with many of these animals now in wildlife parks and in some zoos. Poaching remains a constant threat for those that live in the wild. 

  

                                              Figure 1. “White rhino” at a wildlife park in San Diego County, southern California.

Classification

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Mammalia

Order Perissodactyla (= odd toed ungulates)

Family Rhinocerotidae

Genus Ceratototherium

Type Species C. simum

Rhinos originated in North America during the early middle Eocene time, about 40 million years ago. By the end of Oligocene time (23 million years ago), they had mostly died out in North America but some migrated into Africa. Subsequently, they evolved and spread into India, Sumatra, Indonesia, and Java. Today, there are three remaining species of rhinos in this general area and are represented by the Indian, Sumatran, and Javan rhinos. Also, during the Pleistocene Ice Age, some rhinos lived in northern cold regions in North America. 

Today, there are only five extant species of rhinos, and they live either in Africa or in the Indonesian region (some in the wild, some in wildlife parks, and some in zoos).