A rhinoceros, often known as a rhino, is a hefty, gray animal that has a horn that protrudes in front of its snout.
The second biggest land mammal on Earth is these massive herbivores. Bigger species are taller than six feet and weigh between three and five tons.
Rhinos have hard skin that is 0.5 to 2 inches thick. They are herbivores who feed on grasslands and gather fruit and leaves from trees using their tongue.
There are now five animals like rhinos species in the world: two in Africa (white and black), three in Asia (Javen, larger one-horned rhino, and Sumatran).
The oldest rhino species still alive is the Sumatran rhino, which first emerged on Earth some 15 million years ago. Horses, zebras, and tapirs are their nearest surviving relatives.
Each of the five rhino species gives birth to a single calf after a protracted 15–16 month gestation period.
Among the most endangered creatures in the world are rhinos. Over the past few centuries, there has been an unprecedented overhunting of rhinos due to certain civilizations’ belief that animals like rhinos horns and other body parts have therapeutic benefits.
These are some animals like rhinos:
1. Tapir
Scientific name: Tapirus
Quick summary: among the nearest relatives of the rhino.
Large herbivorous animals, tapirs are found in the jungles of South East Asia, Central and South America. At 300–700 pounds, they are the biggest terrestrial mammal in South Africa.
There are several parallels between tapirs and rhinos despite the fact that they are far smaller and have a totally distinct appearance.
Tapirs and rhinoceroses are odd-toed ungulates, meaning they have three toes on each foot.
Tapirs are herbivores, just like rhinos. When searching for food, they utilize their unique prehensile snout to grasp plants. Rhinos similarly grasp food with their mouths.
Similar to rhino pregnancies, tapir pregnancies are extremely lengthy, lasting 13 to 14 months. A single calf is born to both animals.
Similar to animals like rhinos, these magnificent creatures are an endangered species because of habitat devastation and poaching.
2. Elephant
Scientific name: Elephantidae
Quick summary: the only mammal bigger than a rhino on land.
The only terrestrial mammal larger than a rhino is an elephant. The heaviest rhinoceros may weigh up to 5 tons, and African elephants can reach weights of up to 7 tons.
Rhinos reach heights of 4 to 7 feet, however they are not as tall as elephants. Elephants may grow to a height of ten or twelve feet.
Elephants lack horns, yet rhinos and elephants both have gray, leathery skin. Their large trunk, which has tusks on either side, makes them easily identifiable.
Elephants and rhinos have similar diets since they are both herbivores. Rhinos use their lips to grasp food, while elephants use their trunks.
There is a lengthy gestation period in both mammals. Elephants typically carry a baby for 22 months during their longest pregnancy of any living mammal. Animals like Rhinos have a 15–16 month gestation period.
Sea also: 5 Best Animals That Look Like Elephants (With pictures)
3. Zebra
Scientific name: Equus quagga
Quick summary: African animal with stripes of black and white that is closely related to rhinos.
A black-and-white-striped member of the horse family is known as a zebra. Zebras are among rhinos’ closest cousins, despite the fact that animals have radically distinct appearances.
A class of mammals known as odd-toed ungulates includes both zebras and rhinos; these animals have hoofed toes on each hindfoot.
Zebras may reach a height of five feet and are nearly as tall as rhinos, although having differing body forms.
Like rhinos, zebras have a lengthy gestation period. A zebra gives birth after 12 to 13 months of gestation, which is about one month less than that of a rhino.
Africa’s meadows and forests are home to zebras. Similar to the animals like rhinos, they are herbivores and consume a broad range of grasses as well as occasionally young trees.
4. Rhino Iguana
Scientific name: Cyclura cornuta
Quick summary: an immense reptile with horn-like protrusions that resembled rhinos.
The Caribbean’s tropical islands are home to the huge, hefty rhino iguana. Its name derives from a bony projection on its muzzle that resembles a rhino’s horn.
The family Iguanidae includes rhino iguanas. They weigh between 10 to 19 pounds, making them enormous for a lizard even if they are little in comparison to rhinos.
These common creatures occasionally have dull brown or dark green skin, but most of the time they have gray skin similar to that of a rhino.
Animals like rhinos, they primarily eat plants, but they do occasionally consume tiny insects.
Both animals like rhinos and rhino iguanas are typically calm animals in the absence of provocation, although they can turn hostile when under danger.
5. Horse
Scientific name: Equus caballus
Quick summary: a tamed rhinocephalan hoofed animal.
One of the most well-liked domesticated animals worldwide is the horse. They belong to the family Equidae and are large-hoofed animals.
Like zebras, tapirs, and rhinos, horses are odd-toed ungulates, meaning that the number of toes on their rear foot varies. Rhinos have three toes on each foot, but current horses only have one. Despite their dissimilar appearances, horses and rhinos both consume plants and are herbivores.
Although horses are generally lighter than rhinos, several horse breeds are far taller than the animals like rhinos. Shire horses frequently grow to heights of almost seven feet.
6. Narwhal
Scientific name: Monodon monoceros
Quick summary: a whale with a tusk like the horn of a rhino.
A medium-sized whale, the narwhal has a large tusk on top of its head that resembles the horn of a rhino. The tusk, which may reach a length of ten feet, is essentially an enlarged tooth.
The Arctic seas of Greenland, Russia, Norway, and Canada are home to narwhals. While narwhals are carnivores and consume fish, squid, and shrimp, rhinos are herbivores.
Animals like rhinos, narwhals only give birth to a single calf and have a lengthy gestation period of 13 to 16 months.
Narwhals are speckled gray in adulthood, but they undergo color changes throughout the course of their lives. Older narwhals are nearly completely white, whereas newborns are blue-gray.
7. Hippopotamus (Hippo)
Scientific name: Hippopotamus amphibius
Quick summary: a huge semi-aquatic animal found in Africa.
Africa is home to the massive, semi-aquatic hippopotamus. They resemble with animals like rhinos in that they have big, stocky bodies and thick, gray skin.
Animals like rhinos and hippos reach comparable heights and lengths. After elephants and rhinoceros, hippos are the largest land animals in the world, often weighing over 3.5 tons.
Both hippos and rhinos are herbivores with voracious appetites.
Unlike rhinos, hippos lack a horn on their snout. Their greatest distinctive feature is that their nose, ears, and eyes are located atop their heads.
While rhinos of the Asian subcontinent can swim quite well, they are not aquatic creatures like hippos. Hippopotamuses spend sixteen hours a day in the water on average.
8. Rhino Viper
Scientific name: Bitis nasicornis
Quick summary: a viper with protrusion that resemble horns.
A rhino viper is a type of snake that has scales on the top of its nose that mimic horns and looks like a rhinoceros.
In the wetlands and tropical forests of Central and West Africa, they go by the names river jack and butterfly viper. These peculiar snakes may reach lengths of up to 7 feet, although they often reach just 3–4 feet.
Rhino vipers are not related to rhinos, despite the fact that they resemble with animals like rhinos. The Bitis genus, which includes several kinds of poisonous snakes, includes rhino vipers.
The diet of rhino vipers differs greatly from that of herbivorous rhinos, since they consume fish, frogs, and rodents.
9. Rhinoceros Beetle
Scientific name: Dynastinae
Quick summary: An insect with a protrusion that resembles a rhino’s horn.
Rhinoceros beetles are insects that resemble rhinos because of a protrusion that resembles a horn. There are horns only on the heads of the male insects and in their environs.
With the exception of Antarctica, these amazing insects may be found all over the planet.
With a maximum size of six inches, rhinoceros beetles are among the biggest bugs worldwide, while being little in comparison to their huge namesake.
These beetles are robust, powerful creatures, just animals like rhinos. More than thirty times their own weight in things can be lifted by rhinoceros beetles.
Animals like rhinos, rhinoceros beetles are herbivores. They consume nectar, fruit, and sap as food.
10. Rhinoceros Chameleon
Scientific name: Furcifer rhinoceratus
Quick summary: a chameleon with a snout as big as a rhinoceros.
A particular kind of chameleon found exclusively in the arid woodlands of Madagascar is the rhino chameleon. These peculiar creatures’ distinctive noses, which resemble rhino horns, give them their name.
Considering that they are just around 11 inches long, rhinoceros chameleons are little in comparison to rhinos. Though they can also be light brown, they are often gray in hue, much like a rhino.
Although rhinos are herbivores, these little chameleons hunt insects, quickly capturing their prey with their tongues.
Animals like rhinos, these stunning chameleons are critically endangered.
They are classified as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because the woods in which they reside are being cleared for the production of charcoal and livestock grazing.
Calculation:
Among the most unusual creatures on the earth are rhinos. With one horn, the great one-horned rhino is the only land animal with this trait.
There are other creatures that resemble rhinos, despite their distinguishing feature being their single horn.
Animals like Rhinos are members of the perissodactyla, or odd-toed ungulates, biological group. Their nearest living relatives comprise zebras, horses, and tapirs. All members of this group are usually herbivores and have an unequal number of toes on their rear foot.
While not closely related, other huge African creatures like hippos and elephants have several characteristics in common with animals like rhinos.