Rhino gestation period skin#

The most distinguishable characteristic between a black and a white rhino is that black rhinos have a hooked lip, as opposed to a flat-based lip, which is related to their eating habits They also have a smaller head, as unlike the white rhino, they are browsers, so eat from higher bushes or trees, requiring less muscle strength around their necks than white rhinos. Distinctive characteristics: black rhinos are smaller than white rhinos, and have less of a pronounced hump on the back of their necks.The front (anterior) horn is longer than the rear (posterior) horn, averaging at around 50 cm long The horn is comprised of thousands of compressed hair-like strands of keratin (like hair and fingernail fibres), making it extremely hard and tough, but it can be broken or split during fighting. The shape of the horn also differs between sexes: with males tending to have thicker horns, and the females often longer and thinner ones. Rhinos from different areas can have horns of different shapes and sizes also vary.

Rhino gestation period skin#

The horn: black rhinos have two horns, which grow continually from the skin at their base throughout their life (like human fingernails).Hair: they only have hair on the ears, tail tips and eyelashes.They are both of a dark grey colour, but this can vary depending on local soil conditions (as rhinos tend to wallow in the mud or dust, their skin may vary in colour accordingly) Skin colour: there is actually no colour difference between the white and black rhino.Shoulder height: black rhinos stand at approximately 1.6 metres tall at the shoulder.Weight: adult males weigh up to 1,350 kg and females up to 900 kg.Size: the black rhino is the smaller of the two African species.