Ceratotherium simum

The white rhinoceros, also known as the white rhino or square-lipped rhinoceros, is the largest extant species of rhinoceros and the most social of all rhino species, characterized by its wide mouth adapted for grazing. The species includes two subspecies with dramatically different conservation outlooks: the southern white rhinoceros, with an estimated 17,464 individuals in the wild as of the end of 2023, and the northern white rhinoceros. The northern subspecies is critically endangered and on the brink of extinction; its last known male, Sudan, died in March 2018, leaving behind only two females. Both subspecies have faced significant threats, primarily from poaching for their horns and habitat loss, which contribute to the species' overall conservation status of Near Threatened. White rhinoceros can run up to 40 mph (64 km/h) for very short bursts. They can maintain speeds of around 30–31 mph (48–50 km/h) for a good amount of time, and they have good stamina.

Ceratotherium simum

Giles Laurent · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
white rhinocerosPBDB
Sits inside
CeratotheriumPBDB
Diet
grazerPBDB, for Ceratotherium
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Ceratotherium
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 2.5 million years on record.

The record covers at least 2.58 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 23.04 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 0 of 131 occurrencesMiocene — about 1 of 131 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 35 of 131 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 93 of 131 occurrencesPleistocene24–23 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–20 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences17–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–16 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences16–15 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–13 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences10–9.4 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences9.4–8.6 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences8.6–7.8 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.8–7.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences7.1–6.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences6.3–5.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.5–4.7 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.7–3.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.9–3.1 Mya — about 14 occurrences3.1–2.4 Mya — about 28 occurrences2.4–1.6 Mya — about 39 occurrences1.6–785 ka Mya — about 30 occurrences785 ka–0 Mya — about 14 occurrences2.58 Mya – 11.7 ka23.5 Mya0 Mya

131 occurrences of Ceratotherium simum on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

131 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

18 formations

Shungura — 5.07°N, 36.03°EShungura — 5.15°N, 36.04°EShungura — 5.05°N, 36.01°EVogel River Series — 3.23°S, 35.23°EVogel River Series — 3.23°S, 36.19°EVogel River Series — 3.01°S, 35.20°EVogel River Series — 3.25°S, 35.20°EKoobi Fora — 3.90°N, 36.24°EKoobi Fora — 3.86°N, 36.26°EKoobi Fora — 4.07°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 3.87°N, 36.37°EKoobi Fora — 4.27°N, 36.29°EKoobi Fora — 3.95°N, 36.28°EKoobi Fora — 4.28°N, 36.38°EKoobi Fora — 4.18°N, 36.42°EKoobi Fora — 4.29°N, 36.23°EKoobi Fora — 4.24°N, 36.28°ENachukui — 3.87°N, 35.70°ENachukui — 4.53°N, 35.75°ENachukui — 4.11°N, 35.73°ENachukui — 4.17°N, 35.74°ENachukui — 4.21°N, 35.78°ENachukui — 4.25°N, 35.79°EHumbu — 2.33°S, 35.97°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 34.32°EOlduvai — 2.99°S, 35.33°EOlduvai — 2.98°S, 35.37°EHadar — 11.13°N, 40.59°EWehaietu — 10.72°N, 40.50°EWehaietu — 10.63°N, 40.54°EChemeron — 0.67°N, 35.83°EKapthurin — 0.50°N, 36.00°EChiwondo — 10.17°S, 34.00°EUSNO — 5.35°N, 36.17°EMatabaietu — 10.55°N, 40.58°EDanakil — 14.84°N, 39.87°ERietputs — 28.53°S, 24.47°EMakapansgat — 24.20°S, 28.95°EKalam — 5.04°N, 36.00°EOlorgesailie — 1.57°S, 36.44°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Ceratotherium simum has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 26 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Ceratotherium simum and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Ceratotherium simum and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

608 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 131 sites for Ceratotherium simum, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

54 references

Each of the 131 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 42 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content2

Picture of Ceratotherium simum

Credit
Giles Laurent
Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itCeratotherium through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Burchell 1821)