h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have some good photos of White Rhinos. We don't have to limit ourselves to one picture per entry.

Entry: Rhinocerii - A87736251
Author: MMF - Keeper of Mustelids, with added P.M.A. - With added Anorak! - U236774

page turner

Gnomon, I hadn't realised that the limit of one photo per entry had been lifted. If it had, I'd have made a photo of Leeds Rhinos while I was there this weekend.

And Elektra, my apologies, I don't think we've met online and with tag-name changes, I do get confused on occasion.

MMF

...first thought that comes to mind, in response to title only, BEFORE reading the article...




Marco Polo, documenting his travels in the far east during the reign of Kublai Khan, on several occasions reports "unicorns".

In all of the places where he reports them, save one, there are surviving populations of rhinoceros, many of them one-horned rhinos.

In case where there is no surviving population of rhino, the local 'unicorn' was reported to be an aggressive variety with a yard long horn, that would run people down, kneel on their chests and lick the flesh from their bones with a rasp-like tongue, which may explain why there is no surviving population there.




It may be that 'unicorn' is merely an archaic word for 'rhino' that passed out of usage, becoming invested with an aura of the supernatural, with the extinction of the Mediterranean population (like the Mediterranean elephant, a casualty of the Roman gladiatorial games) and the animal was renamed when it was re-discovered during the early colonial era.

On a first (and fast) read through, excellent and very highly entertaining article.

Thank you. I did toy with the 'unicorn' idea, but dudn't know where to include it, and I was getting different versions of it's derivation. Maybe I'll relook at it, as it should be included. I like my entries to be one-stop shops, where possible. Any links would be helpful to speed things up.



MMF

You seem to assume that the reader already knows what a rhinoceros is. You should mention early on in the entry that a rhino is a large mammal with a horn on its nose.

Some small points:

Please change "it's" to "its" throughout this entry.

"This is a large iguana also known as the horned ground iguana. As the name suggests it is named after two scaly protruberances found on it’s snout. They measure around a metre in length, half of which is the tail"

-- this sounds as if the horn-like protuberances measure around a metre.

"There are eight tribes" -- shouldn't that be "species"?

You could put your lists of sub-species into bullet point lists. For example,

< P >There are two sub-species:< /P >

< UL >
< LI >Western Sumatran rhinoceros - < I >Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis< /I >.< /LI >
< LI >Borneo (or Eastern) Sumatran rhinoceros - < I >Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harissoni< /I >.< /LI >
< /UL >

(Ignore the spaces in those tags - they're due to a bug in Pliny)

A very good article! One thing - shouldn't 'Headingly' be 'Headingley'? You could also consider linking to A87740346 when you mention Leeds?

<BB<

Think I've captured the errors. Please. If there are any errant it's v its still in there, please point them out as I've gone staring at the entry.

Also I've included a few add-ons, including Durer, as I feel it is an important part of the history of the rhinoceros, introducing it to Western Society a full 300 years before they would experience a live rhinoceros. In fact all subsequent depictions were based on Durer's prints.

Should I include that?

Also, Gnomon, from a couple of sites re: Rhinoceros beetle, they mention 8 tribes specifically, not species, but I've amended on your commendation.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/2877

http://www.glaphyridae.com/Dynastinae/dynastinae.html

The latter is where I got the majority of my info, as it was sketchy...

MMF

Any further comments, please?

MMF

You have a reference to "Rhinoceros hornbill" you seem to assume we all know what a "hornbill" is. From the text I assume it is some type of bird, could you clarify?

F S

This is now very good - full of information, clearly presented.

There are still some odd sentences:
The sentence beginning 'A rhinoceros' eyesight is very poor' gets a bit tangled. It might be as well to put a full stop there and then say 'It has been said that, if you are in the vicinity of a rhinoceros, you can crouch and stay still and it will pass by, not realizing anything was close.'

The sentence beginning 'As mentioned in the opening tale, rhinoceros ceate piles of dung' should continue 'which they investigate when they find'.

The sentence beginning 'The White rhinoceros' might be clearer turned round , thus: 'The White rhinoceros is the only grazing rhinoceros and favours thick scrub and flat, grassy land with a good supply of water. They...'

When you talk about the Sumatran rhinoceros, the sentence beginning 'The front horn reaches up to 80cm' needs rethinking.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but the plural of rhinoceros has only one i.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rhinoceros

see also http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/501391/rhinoceros

You might also want to add that in the rare instance where you see several together, it is called a crash of rhinoceri.
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm

You're right, shagbark. There is only one "i" in "rhinoceroses".

make that a crash of rhinoceroses

Touché Gnomon. Good repost, and Header amended.

I've updated the entry, including the 'dubious' Marco Polo addendum, but I need clarification on that, as I've not yet come across the link, but shall continue searching.

Any further amendments, please advise.

MMF

You say:

>>Weighing 1,800 to 2,700kg, out is the second largest of the rhinoceros family.<< - what is out?

Can I reiterate what I mentioned, then MVP mentioned, too?

>>The front horn reaches up to 80cm, and reaches a height of 1.5m, weighing 600-950kg.<< You are effectively saying that the horn reaches a height of 1.5 m and weighs between 600 and 950 kg.

I noticed that your sentences of miss the subject which makes them look a little odd, like the one quoted above.

There are three it’s (curly apostrophe if you use ctrl f) and two it's all of which should be 'its' left.