Rhinos and Friends

Here's some cool zoo critters:

 Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis), Lincoln Park Zoo, Cook Co, IL 1/26/2012

This is a Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis), from the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis),
Cincinnati Zoo, Hamilton Co, OH, 3/29/2012

This one's a Sumatran Rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) from the Cincinnati Zoo, one of just a handful of zoos worldwide to breed them. Interestingly enough, despite its tropical home, it's closest relative is considered to be the extinct Ice Age Woolly Rhinoceros.

Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi), Henry Doorley Zoo, Omaha, NE 12/30/2011

This is a Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi) from the Omaha Zoo.

Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus),
Henry Doorley Zoo, Omaha, NE 12/30/2011

And this comical looking critter is a Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus), also from the Omaha Zoo.

All of these animals share two things -- a taxonomic group (the order Perissodactyla) and a listing of at least Endangered by the IUCN. (1)

They aren't alone in either of those -- of 17 living species of Perissodactyla, or odd-toed hoofed mammals, 3 haven't been evaluated (Domestic horses (E. ferrus caballus) and donkeys (E. asinus), and Burchell's Zebra (E. burchelli (?)) -- the last probably due to some taxonomic confusion over whether it's a legitimate species, or even if it's still extant). One, the Tibetan Kiang (E. kiang), a wild donkey, is listed as Least Concern. Another one, the White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum), is listed as Near Threatened. The other 11 break down like so: 3 vulnerable, 5 endangered, and 3 critically endangered. One more, Tapirus kabomani, was only formally described last year, so it hasn't been evaluated yet. (2)

Even before humans arrived on the scene, quite a few Perrisodactyls went extinct -- there are 11 fossil families, none of which survived long enough to have seen modern Homo sapiens. (3) But the ones that are left are survivors -- as long as they don't have to deal with burgeoning human populations. Today, it's all too easy to imagine a world where one of the most important early groups of modern mammals is barely a memory, racing down the track of extinction.


(1) www.onezoom.org

(2) IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 April 2014.

(3) http://www.tolweb.org/Perissodactyla/15980