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 Wildville!
Rhino
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Rhinocerotidae
 Rhino is short for rhinoceros, a large elephant-like animal. The animal's name is Greek. Rhino means nose, and ceros means horn. This name describes the most distinctive feature of the rhino, its horned nose. The rhino's horn is made of keratin, a protein that makes up hair and nails. They live in south and eastern Africa, and tropical areas in Asia.
The rhino is an animal with a big body on short stumpy legs. It can not see well, but can hear and smell very well. All rhinos have thick skin in a grey, brown, or whitish color. They are hairless except for tufts of hair on the end of the tail and on the ears. They weigh 3 to 5 tons! The smallest rhinos, Sumatran rhinos, grow 8 to 9 feet long and 3 to 5 feet tall and have two horns! The largest rhinos, Javan rhinos, grow 11.5 feet long and 6 feet tall. After the elephant, the rhinoceros ranks with the hippopotamus as the largest living land mammal.
Rhinos are herbivores, which means they only eat plants. Most rhinos live in flat, grassy areas, but the Sumatran rhino lives in rain forests. A group of rhinos is called a crash instead of a herd. Herds live together all the time while crashes are temporary groups.
There are five species of Rhinoceroses: Sumatran, Indian, Javan, White, and Black. All rhinos are endangered except the Black rhino. They are hunted for their horns, which are used in traditional Asian medicine. Sumatran, Indian, and Javan rhinos live in parts of southern Asia. White and Black rhinos live in Africa, and are very similar except for their lips. Black rhinos have pointed lips.
Editorial research by Ashley Genova, a contributing writer from Fayetteville, NC. Sources: Brittanica Student Encyclopedia; Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.com.
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