Northern Sumatran rhinoceros
| Northern Sumatran rhinoceros | |
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| A Northern Sumatran rhinoceros at London Zoo, United Kingdom. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Perissodactyla |
| Family: | Rhinocerotidae |
| Genus: | Dicerorhinus |
| Species: | D. sumatrensis |
| Subspecies: | D. s. lasiotis |
| Trinomial name | |
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Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis (Buckland, 1872) |
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The Northern Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis), also known as Chittagong rhinoceros or northern hairy rhinoceros was the most widespread subspecies of Sumatran rhinoceros, also the only known subspecies native to mainland Asia whilst the latter live in Indonesian islands.
While it has been officially declared as extinct on multiple occasions in early 20th century, it has been reported that small populations might still exist in the wild, such as in Burma and the Malaysian Peninsula, though it is highly doubtful. As of 2008, it is considered as "Critically Endangered" by IUCN.
The mainland subspecies of the Sumatran rhinoceros was given Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis. The name lasiotis is derived from the Greek for "hairy-ears", as the Northern Sumatran rhinoceros has remarkable longer fur on the ears. The Northern Sumatran subspecies was also called hairy-eared Sumatran rhinoceros or ear-fringed rhinoceros for that reason.
There was a debate whether the Dicerorhinus sumatrensis lasiotis specimen should be considered as a separate subspecies from the similar nominate Dicerorhinus sumatrensis sumatrensis specimen from Indonesia. However, it remained a subspecies as the northern Sumatran rhinoceros was significantly larger, with unusual longer hair on the ears, and longer and bigger horns.
The Northern Sumatran rhinoceros is the largest subspecies. It has longer hair on the ears and longer horns. However, it may have less hair on the body than the Western Sumatran rhinoceros.
The Northern Sumatran rhinoceros lived in tropical rainforests, swamps, cloud forests, jungles and grasslands. It also inhabited hilly areas, near rivers, steep upper valleys and mountains.
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Wikipedia