Renshaw, G., 1904. Natural history essays. London and Manchester, Sherratt and Hughes, pp. i-xv, 1-218
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| Location: |
World |
| Subject: |
Morphology - Horn |
| Species: |
African Rhino Species |
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The horns of the white rhinoceros are pale-coloured, and those of the black rhinoceros are black, hence since these structures are but agglutinated hair, it may be inferred that if these anmals' bodies were hirsute instead of naked, then would R. simus be truly white, and R. bicornis truly black. Any person who has examined a front horn of the white rhinoceros will admit that the pale bristles sprouting from the base of the horn are themselves half way in structure to hair. Further, I have recently examined a front horn of the allied extinct Rhinoceros antiquitatis, and this strikingly resembled a white rhinoceros horn in my possession. Both specimens were markedly fibrous in texture, translucent, and had the posterior margin sharply defined. At its base the fossil horn was split up into bristly fibres, just like that of the white rhinoceros of the present day: in section it showed also exactly the hue which is seen in its living congener, so that the horns of the two species agreed remarkably in many ways. We are thus led up to a most interesting speculation for since Pallas* described the frozen carcase of the woolly rhinoceros which was found in December, 1771, on the banks of the Viloui River, as covered with ash-coloured hair, one may retrace the steps of evolution and fancifully picture the living white rhinoceros of recent times clad in a furry robe of silvery grey. Truly, in such a case, would the white rhinoceros well deserve its name!
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